One For The Vault
by Skye007lex
Summary: Pam's found a new toy, but this one just might prove useful enough for her to keep around. Pam/OC Femslash 1x04 through 3x04 episode spoilers
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, own nothing of True Blood or its characters. **

**AN: This is a Pam/OC female pairing PWP. The rating is there for sexual content (and perhaps some mild violence in other chapters), so please do not read if this will offend you or if you are not old enough. The main episodes of the show it will center around are 1x04, when we were first introduced to Pam before Fangtasia was raided, and 3x04 when the Magister was an asshole...**

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**One For the Vault**

**Chapter 1**

It was a balmy Monday evening, with most of Shreveport Louisiana settling into the quiet calm of the night. The only exception was a small establishment on the tail end of a darkened strip mall. Bright neon lights glared out into the street, and the pounding of music escaping the open door reached even further into the dark night. The patrons of this particular club, as well as the massive crowd lined up eagerly outside, cared not that it was a weekday. Their numbers easily matched those of a Friday or Saturday crowd. In fact, it was hard to name a night that didn't prove extremely profitable to the popular vampire bar, _Fangtasia_.

Just past the boisterous mob waiting to enter, and past the edge of the long strip mall, was a quaint restaurant called _Bernadette's. _It's main revenue, prior to the opening of the vampire bar, had come from the busy breakfast and lunch hours. Locals would cram into the round wooden tables or tall stools at the long counter, and stuff themselves with the gourmet pastries and meals the restaurant was famous for.

After _Fangtasia_ opened, and news spread of local vampire sightings, it had grown harder and harder pry the late customers that were glued to windows by the time the sun set. The ones that weren't brave enough to enter said bar, were still curious and they starred eagerly out the glass of _Bernadette's_ in hope of seeing an actual vampire each night. So, once the restaurant adjusted it's hours, accommodating the inquisitive folk with a dinner shift, their profits were impressive.

What was not impressive, was the fact that the dinner crowd seemed to be even messier than the lunch crowd.

On her hands and knees, Caroline Lambert, an evening waitress of _Bernadette's_, scrubbed at the dried barbeque sauce that refused to leave the side of one chair. How the man who'd sat there earlier had gotten more sauce on the furniture rather than in his mouth was a mystery to her. Sulking, she glared at his image in her thoughts.

The ringing of the bell over the entrance door ended the silence of the building and Caroline called out over her shoulder without taking her eyes off the stubborn stain. "Sorry, we're closed."

A satisfied sigh slipped passed her lips as she finally managed to remove the last of the sauce. Abandoning the scrub brush beside the mop and bucket near the wall with a gentle toss, Caroline wished to never see barbeque sauce on the menu again.

"Shouldn't the door be locked then?" a smooth feminine voice drawled from behind her.

"Sorry for the inconvenience." Caroline replied in a kind voice, but mumbled to herself after an eye roll, "_The sign with __**Closed**__ printed in bright letters, must not have been clear enough_..." She rose from the ground slowly, on tired limbs, to turn and face the visitor. "There is a diner down the road a bit. It's open round... t-the... clock." Caroline stumbled over the last of her words when the woman came into her sight.

"Oh, you didn't have to get up darlin'. I was really enjoying the view." Caroline had never seen a vampire before, and the soft gasp that escaped her lips just might have given that away.

Every vampire she'd imagined, since they'd come out of the coffin, looked nothing like the woman now standing just inside _Bernadette's_ entrance. She was beautiful; tall and slender, with long blonde hair that curled in soft waves over her shoulders. Skin so very pale, was completely void of any imperfections and applied with soft and elegant touches of makeup. Her skin also stood out greatly in comparison to the warm walls and decor of the restaurant .

Physical appearance aside, it was the vampire's attire that had truly surprised Caroline. Not an inch of fabric was black. Nothing tight, leather, latex, nor dominatrix or gothic styled in any way shape or form. In fact, the only items black in color were the Chanel sunglasses she wore as a headband and the matching purse dangling from one elbow.

The vampire looked like she belonged more in an Ann Taylor catalogue than as a creature that slept in a coffin. Pearls hung from her neck and fell against the lavender colored chiffon top she wore. Her long toned legs covered in white cotton twill capris that fell above her ankles. Porcelain legs were visible when the fabric ended, just before they disappeared into an expensive looking pair of peep toed pumps.

"Well aren't you adorable," the vampire broke into her thoughts, and her icy eyes traveled over every inch of Caroline like a slow caress. "You remind me of Betty Boop."

Caroline's cheeks had started to burn after she'd realized what the woman was and she'd stumbled over her words. That only intensified under a vampire's scrutiny. She self consciously ran her hands against her clothing, smoothing out the wrinkles on the red shirt and black pencil skirt she wore. Grimacing inward, she worried just how bad her short black curls had frizzed since she'd last look in the bathroom mirror.

Unfortunately, her cheeks only darkened in color when she realized she was also still barefoot, having kicked her shoes off after she'd finished mopping. She was only 5'3 and most others towered above her, so heels were a constant with Caroline. But after a long shift, like the one she'd worked that day, her toes usually felt numb by the time the cook shut down the kitchen and the last customer left. Usually, she'd slip into a comfy pair of sneakers or flip flops, but she'd forgotten those at home.

"Looking for those sweetheart?" Caroline raised her eyes from her quick search and looked towards vampire. Following her gesture, a tilt of her blonde head, Caroline saw the heels under one of the high stools at the counter.

Hanging her head in embarrassment and pulling her lower lip between her teeth, her nervous habit, she started forward towards the shoes. Just as Caroline was a foot or so away, a blur of movement beat her to them. The vampire was suddenly in front of her with the shoes in outstretched manicured hands.

"Holy s- ...um, I mean thank you," Caroline managed to bite back the curse. She hid the surprise in her features as she bent down to slide her feet into the simple black heels. She'd never seen anything move that fast in her life and worried about what other secret _gifts_ the vampire possessed.

"You're welcome." Caroline couldn't help but stare as she stood up straight again. She wondered why she couldn't see the vampires fangs, and also how she managed to still be so damn intimidating without them. "Oh, you smell delicious." The vampires eyes fell shut, as her head tilted towards Caroline and she took in her scent. "Just like peaches."

"Oh... well, peach cobbler was the special today," Caroline offered lamely.

"And if it tasted as good as you smell, I'm sure it was divine."

"Thank you ...I guess." Not exactly the complement one wanted to hear from a vampire, especially when she happened to be alone with one. "Um, I don't mean to sound rude, but like I said before, we are closed. There is a vampire bar just a few doors down, though, if that helps."

"That's actually why I'm here, peaches," the vampire winked and then smirked to herself at the nickname she'd given Caroline. "I work at said vampire bar, and am here to meet with the owner of this fine..." she grimaced as she looked around the restaurant before discarding her purse on the counter beside them, "...establishment. On some matters of business. That wouldn't be you by any chance?"

"Sorry, no."

"Just my luck." The vampire edged closer, locking her eyes with Caroline's and seemingly slowing time with the pull from her eyes. "Tell me about the owner."

Caroline's words were slow and soft, and she swayed a bit at the intensity. "He's already left for the day. Mr. Bovill only works the early shifts. Except for the weekends that is, then he's here all day." The mop fell to the ground across the room, and the spell was broken. The vampire looked about again, taking in the human decor with an odd expression.

Caroline couldn't help but glance up at the glasses perched on the vampire's head with a curious frown. "It's nighttime."

"Observant."

She heard the sarcasm but missed the humor in the icy blue eyes, as her own were still on the odd accessory. "But the sunglasses..."

"Can't a girl accessorize?" The vampire grinned at Caroline teasingly and played with the string of pearls at her neck, skin paler than the jewels.

"I guess so..."

"And I believe Louisiana isn't exactly in the neighborhood of the Eiffel Tower," the vampire added with her silky voice, dropping the pearls and pointing to the small gold charm of the landmark that hung from the waitress' neck.

"Oh, I sort of have an obsession with France," Caroline replied, her fingers moving to rest briefly against the small chain unconsciously.

"Ever been, peaches?"

"Not yet."

"In that case, which would you prefer being referred to as... the pot or the kettle?"

"Oh! You're right, I'm sorry. That was very rude of me." After she spoke Caroline's eyes followed the movement of the vampire's hand as it reached out to play with one of the curls resting just beneath her chin. The vampire stretched the strand straight and then released it after a moment's pause, watching it spring back in place with a grin. She repeated this once more before slowly raising her eyes to lock with Caroline's curious ones.

She always did like to play with her food. "What's your name, peaches?"

"Caroline Lambert," she answered immediately. The strange pull from the vampires locked gaze compelling her to be honest once again.

"It's lovely to meet you, Caroline. My name is Pam," she brushed her hand through Caroline's hair softly, before trailing her fingers down her cheek and jaw line. "But sweetheart, you won't remember that in the morning."

"Why not?" Still dazed as she looked into the icy blue of Pam's eyes, she felt none of the alarm she would have without the glamour. Caroline didn't even notice the hand trailing against the smooth skin of her neck now, nor its pair removing her work apron from about her waist.

"Because tonight, Caroline, I'm going to find out if you taste like peaches too."

Suddenly, Caroline was pushed backwards between two barstools, their legs scratching the floor loudly. Her body was pressed roughly against the counter and she had to grip it's edge with both hands for balance. Pam was on her a second later with a rich growl and a wicked grin showing off her, now very visible, fangs. The full length of her cold solid body, from breasts to ankles, was in contact with every inch of Caroline's. Pressed tight and intimately.

A sudden hand buried into the curls at her neck and her head was wrenched back, exposing the naked skin there. Caroline gasped loudly when Pam's mouth struck at the soft skin between neck and shoulder. Expecting pain from the bite of fangs, she froze in surprise when only tongue and lips met her skin.

"W-what are you doing?" Caroline asked and fought against the sensation Pam's tongue was creating in the pit of her stomach.

"Tasting you."

Caroline moaned softly, as Pam pressed a firm thigh between her own, before beginning to trail a hand against her. Pam's mouth attacked Caroline's neck and then the expanse of skin above her breast, as her hand attacked her shirt. Pulling its edge roughly from her skirt, a cold hand then snaked underneath the freed material and began to fondle the soft skin of her belly. The digits crawling towards her breast and the combined rubbing between her legs caused Caroline's head to roll backwards. Exposing more of her neck, naively, to Pam and her fangs.

Pam licked and nibbled a trail from neck to the underside of Caroline's chin. Raising her gaze to watch the effects on the human's features, a satisfied smirk grew. "Ever been with a vampire, peaches?" The whispered question was pressed against her skin without the warmth of breath Caroline was used to from human men. The words chased by a long graze of fangs, that nearly broke through the delicate skin.

"No..." Caroline's moan was breathless and barely audible with the pressure from Pam's thrusting thigh. Her mind began to go numb as Pam added more pressure to the thrust but slowed the speed down to a slow torture. The increased pressure and slow sensation rolling Caroline's eyes backwards. "Nor a woman," she confessed before releasing a hand from the counter and reaching out for Pam. She clutched at the vampire's hip, pulling her tighter as her own hips gyrated forward with a mind of their own.

"Really?" Pam's head was suddenly right in front of Caroline's, and she beamed like a child would Christmas morning... the fangs slightly dulling that happy image. "Lucky me," she added with a grin that dug her fangs into her bottom lip, before her hand pulled a breast from the cup of Caroline's undergarment. Pam pinched her nipple tightly between two fingers, prolonging Caroline's moan of response by rolling it between her digits.

Caroline swallowed the rest of her moan thickly and leaned forward with every ounce of courage in her body before she heard a reply to her whispered question. "Can...can I kiss you?" Pam stilled her forward movement with a quick hand that dug firmly in her curls, pulling her to a rough and sudden stop.

"I don't do kissing. **Ever**." The words of warning had an underling threat that cooled Caroline's desire slightly. Caroline nodded her head mutely in understanding, silently stunned by how something so simple as a kiss was deemed too intimate for this vampire.

The tense moment passed quickly for Pam though, and her stilled hand returned to fondling Caroline's breast. Her cold expression vanished in a blink of an eye and she easily returned to the teasing banter that had become customary throughout their exchange. "Such a silly sentiment, kissing. And it's a waste of my lipstick."

"No kissing..." Caroline mumbled the agreement through the haze of sensation from her breast.

"Well, that's not entirely true..." Pam added, slowly smiling to herself. The hand that had been tangled in Caroline's hair dipped low, disappearing under the hem of her black pencil skirt. "Just not on the mouth, is really more accurate." Pam emphasized her point with a slow trail of her fingers against the soft fabric of Caroline's panties, leaving no room to wonder where exactly Pam approved of kissing.

Cold fingers quickly found the wet spot pooling from Pam's attention, and pressed the damp fabric back against Caroline's mound. Pam all but purred when she found the moisture between Caroline's warm thighs, and her nostrils flared once more as she took in her sent. "So sweet..."

Caroline had the urge to clench her thighs shut, and trap Pam's hand there for at least a week. She'd never felt so worked up before, and prayed it would never end. "Oh, dear god..."

"The name is Pam," she beamed at Caroline's reaction to her dancing fingers. "I thought we covered that before." Caroline could only bob her head wordlessly, not having the ability at the moment to speak even her own name out loud properly as Pam suddenly found her clitoris. "Oh, that won't do..." Pam tsked at her silence playfully.

Hands fell away from Caroline's body and she almost hissed with her unhappiness. She raised her heavy head with a frown, having become accustomed to the fire Pam's cold hands fueled. The emptiness she felt with their loss was intensely bitter. "What are-"

"Shush now," Pam cut off her inquiry. "I'm quizzing you."

Caroline frowned even further with confusion, until Pam reached behind her and pulled down the short zipper of her skirt, loosening the garment. Lowering her hands, Pam then dipped below the bottom of the skirt and grazed her nails upwards against the skin of Caroline's outer thighs. The sharp trail of nail pausing every now and then for a firm squeeze or playful smack.

"What was my name, peaches?" Pam asked with a raised brow as her hands paused and held firmly to her hips.

Caroline opened her mouth to reply, but Pam choose that exact second to suddenly hoist her up into the air and deposit her onto the edge of the counter. Caroline's response was swallowed with her gasp of surprise at the quick and sudden movement.

Pam's expression was of perfect innocence. "That's incorrect." She moved forward, positioning herself between Caroline's open legs.

"You cheated."

"I did no such thing," Pam shook with silent laughter as she replied. Her hands fell from Caroline's waist and pushed her skirt upwards, securing it around her slender hips before she started to undo the buttons of her red blouse. "I simply asked you a question, and you were unable to provide me with the correct response. Any response really." The blouse parted to her bra and breast were fully exposed to Pam for the first time. "Non verbal ones, of course, do not count."

Caroline's rebuttal was lost on both set of ears as a cold hand once again found its way between warm thighs, stroking and pressing firmly. Pam's other hand quickly freed her breast completely with a swift yank that tore the clasp and straps of her of her simple red bra. The ruined garment was stuffed into the forgotten Channel purse before Caroline could even blink in response, the movement so quick.

Frozen, Caroline could not hear...move...think...or breathe when Pam locked gazes and bent her mouth towards her breast. The steel of her icy blue eyes was almost as intense as the fingers moving against edge of her panties. Caroline could not take her eyes off Pam, and only lowered them from her gaze to watch as lips parted and a pink tongue darted out to taste her right breast. It first fell flat against her nipple, pressing a slow but firm lick to the sensitive bud. The cold temperature of Pam like an ice cube, jolting her senses awake and stealing the air from her lungs.

"Now, let's see how sweet you really are." Pam's fangs broke through the skin of her breast with a bloody trail, just as she thrust two fingers deep inside Caroline's wet opening and rubbed her thumb hard against Caroline's clitoris.

If not for Pam's hold on her, Caroline would have jumped three feet in the air with the sudden assault of pleasure. None of her past boyfriends had been as talented with their hands as Pam was, most never even bothering to touch her unless spreading her for their eager dick. But Pam's skilled fingers scissored, curled, thrust, and rubbed with a speed and force that set her on fire and buckled her hips upwards.

The fangs buried in her breast, was a sensation nothing like one Caroline had felt before. The initial pierce of the two sharp points burning deep, in a throb that was painful but laced with pure ecstasy. The pull of her blood sent vibrations over every nerve ending so forcefully that within seconds Caroline felt that she was already teetering on the edge of the strongest orgasm she'd experienced. The rushing blood and probing hand had her nails clawing and groping at every available surface; her other breast, the counter of the bar, and Pam's solid form.

When her hands finally buried themselves in Pam's soft locks, massaging her scalp lovingly and pressing her closer, Caroline was rewarded with a scrap of nail over her clitoris. The sound that escaped her lips could only be described as a howl, and it echoed through the restaurant loudly. Pam continued to attack her sensitive clit with a cruel passion and pressed a third finger to her g-spot.

Caroline's orgasm hit like a series of tidal waves. It lasted for what seemed like hours, pounding her over and over, leaving no chance to suck in air to her deprived lungs. Her body trembled with aftershocks that curled her toes, a heel clattering to the ground with the action. She realized there were tears burning her cheeks the same moment she noticed Pam had switched her attention to her other breast. The orgasm quickly built again with the image of Pam's blood soaked mouth feasting at her breast. She marked her, licking the trails of fallen blood every now and then, so as not to waste a drop.

"Exquisite," Pam finally spoke after a long lick up the underside of her breast. "So sweet, peaches."

The red staining her lips, drew Caroline forward like a target. She wanted nothing more than to press her mouth to Pam's. The thought of tasting her own blood and feeling fangs against her lips and tongue creating a dangerous appeal.

"Ever," Pam reminded with an almost hiss, as Caroline's head dipped towards her lips for a kiss. Heeding the warning, she went lower, and instead licked a tentative taste at the blood from Pam's chin.

"I don't taste peach..." It was the very first thought that entered her brain, and without the fog of lust or a glamour she might have been embarrassed by the comment. But there was nothing sweet about the coppery taste of her own blood, and it definitely was no way similar to the fruit Pam seemed so found of.

"No matter," Pam laughed silently at her. "I do..." A pink tongue darted out and licked at the redness on her own lips.

Noticing the late hour, Pam pulled away from Caroline slightly. "Eric will be expecting me by now. Looks like I have to save the second course for our next get together." Caroline almost whimpered at the loss of Pam's touch inside her, but choked out a groan when a finger was dipped inside of her one last time and swirled leisurely.

After sucking the juice off her digit, Pam locked gazes once more and deepened the glamour. "You're going to go into the back and freshen up now. When you return you'll have forgotten I was ever here. You won't remember ever seeing me, or that I've fed from you. That understood, peaches?"

"Yes, Pam."

"Red is certainly your color. Make sure to wear it often ...and eat a peach at least once a day for me darlin'. I want you tasting just as delicious the next time."

"I'll see you again?"

"Oh, you most certainly will."

* * *

It was a scorching Thursday evening, with most of Shreveport Louisiana settled into their beds and succumbing to their dreams. The only exception, aside from the wild club goers a few buildings down, was an overworked evening waitress.

Caroline Lambert kicked open the back door of _Bernadette's_ with a tired growl. The other nightshift waitress had weaseled out early, forcing Caroline to close up and clean up by herself for the second time that week. Monday, the last time, Caroline had been so exhausted by the time she'd finished all the duties that she'd actually blacked out at one point. By morning she could remember only bits and pieces of the tail end of the night. She'd woken up sore in the oddest of places and, strangely, missing her favorite bra.

Pulling two full bags of garbage out the door and into the night, she panted slightly and cursed her failed resolve. Vowing to never cover for lazy Dana Phillips ever again.

The echo of nearby police sirens reached her ears just as she finished depositing the first bag into the small dumpster along the back wall of the restaurant. She turned her curious eyes towards the sound as it seemed to be heading once again towards the nearby vampire club, _Fangtasia_. If she weren't so tired she would have rolled her eyes. The state police raided the popular club so often, it was ridiculous. Too many were still so close-minded. They wasted energy and tax payers dollars in their efforts to shut down the establishment that, for all Caroline knew, had done nothing illegal.

She'd never been in _Fangtasia_. In fact Caroline had never even seen a vampire before, aside from the ones on her television doing press. She held no prejudice, perhaps a bit of fear of the unknown, but no urges to suddenly wear garlic or to purchase a sharp wooden stake. After each raid the club was open the following night, leaving her to believe that it was only intolerance at work.

Caroline turned back to her work, eager to finish and head home for a bath and to her beloved air conditioner. As the last bag disappeared into the dumpster and the lid fell shut with a loud _bang_, more sounds echoed down the alley from _Fangtasia_. Shouts of police and patrons flooded the night and Caroline couldn't help but step further into the alley and peek around the tall fence that separated the lots. She was curious and squinted her eyes to see more clearly in the dark.

Voices, more clearer than the ones before, echoed loudly. A male voice, deep and dangerous called out to others in his party. "I enjoyed meeting you miss Stackhouse. You'll have to come again."

Caroline heard no reply but froze as two forms suddenly sped closer. Their movements so graceful it looked as if they were floating. A man and a woman, both tall, blonde, and gorgeous, approached. Clad head to toe in tight black leather lace and a gothic corset for the woman, their pale skin contrasted greatly against the fabrics.

Frozen in the spot she stood, Caroline's body refused to obey when her mind told her to get inside quickly. Now mere feet away, the tall male was looking backwards, but his female companion's gaze was ahead of them. She zeroed in on Caroline quickly and the smirk that grew caused Caroline to suck in a nervous breath and take a step backwards.

"Peaches!" A wink and then Caroline was once again alone in the dark. Her wide eyes glued to the road the two had disappeared down, sirens still echoing from the west.

Caroline had no idea why she'd been called a fruit. Nor why a jolt of sensation quickly throbbed throughout her chest... and, strangely, even lower. What she did know, was that she'd just seen a vampire for the very first time.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Some dialogue from 1x07 "Burning House of Love" is used, so everything recognized in this chapter is not mine. I make no profit whatsoever. **

**AN: Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and put this into their favorites. Heart you! Same warning for this chapter as the last. No violence, but a bit of language and some more "lesbian weirdness". And wasn't Pam fabulous in last night's episode? She looked beautiful as ever. **

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**One For the Vault**

**Chapter 2**

Caroline was lost in a dream. Slouched back awkwardly in the corner couch of the break room, she'd dozed off accidently during her dinner break. The angle she slept in, as well as the echoing noise from the restaurant's dining room and the kitchen, offered little rest and added to the oddity of her dream.

_She was on display. Stationed on a high platform in the center of Bernadette's, her black apron was clutched in her hands and rung tensely between her fingers. Each of the tables was filled to the max with diner's, all whispering to each other while pointing and staring up at her with cold eyes. The weight of the stares and the buzzing of their muffled conversations, making her feel naked and she shifted nervously from foot to foot. Caroline wanted nothing more than to jump down from the platform, but some unseen force kept her in place. _

_She shouted out to the nameless figures, but none of her words were heard. Each time she tried to speak to them, no sound passed her moving lips. She nearly cried with frustration, twisting her apron into a knot so hard that her knuckles went white, before throwing it to the ground. Anxiety washed over her, as she waited for something... anything to end her uncomfortable position on display. _

_When every head in the room violently turned towards the entrance door suddenly, effectively cutting off all conversation, Caroline's unease increased and she held her breath. The silence suddenly deafening, a tense throb in her ears as her heartbeat pounded loudly. _

_Caroline's eyes were slits as she peered into the darkness outside of the restaurant. The black of the night slowly crept into the building like a dark cloud, dulling the warm inside light. The slow clinking of high heels crossed the threshold of the door long moments before their owner did. By the time the tall figured entered, Bernadette's was so dark that Caroline could only make out outlines of the shapes in front of her. _

_Her platform was circled, the sound of clicking heels the only true indication of the figure's location. Caroline turned her head to follow the sound, squinting in the blackness for an idea of who or what was circling her as if she were prey._

_This time when Caroline opened her mouth to speak, she was successful. "What do you want?" The heels stopped directly behind her and her shoulders tensed as she awaited a response. _

_The blinding light of the restaurant was all that came. The tables and chairs completely empty now, all of the patrons having vanished in a blink. Having raised a hand against the assault of light, she now lowered it slowly and ignored how it shook with her tension. The platform was also gone, she noticed, but the solid weight of a body now pressed at her back. _

_Caroline dared not look over a shoulder, and nearly jumped out of her skin when hands suddenly touched her. They were cold and curious, trailing from the base of her neck... out to her shoulders... down the backs of her arms... and then in reverse, ending where they'd started. The gentle caress was not repeated. Instead the sharp point of a finger nail slid down the skin of her spine. It was painful enough to make her wince, but not harsh enough to move away from._

_"You don't know?" a low whisper answered her earlier question. The drawl of the voice was unrecognizable, but something familiar clicked in the back of her mind. "You've already given it to me..."_

_Caroline's head was suddenly pulled to the side before two pinpoints of pain sunk into her neck hard enough so that she screamed._

"Holy crap... Caroline!" Dana scowled at her as she stomped her foot. "Look what you made me do!"

Having bolted upwards as she startled herself awake, Caroline looked around the small room dazed and confused. Blinking away the last remnants of sleep, she raised a hand to her neck in search of the wound that she was sure was there. Nothing.

"What is your problem?" Her annoyed coworker pulled her attention forward as she bent down to pick up what she'd dropped when she'd been startled by Caroline's scream.

"I... I'm sorry," Caroline offered, still a bit disoriented. "I was dreaming."

"Yeah, no shit." Dana was non sympathetic and rolled her eyes as she collected the glass in a rag from her apron. "Sleep on your own damn time from now on will ya'."

Caroline's remorse vanished quickly, replaced with her normal irritation for the woman before her. "I'm on my brake, Dana," she spoke in defense. "I can sleep if I want to."

"Well, your half an hour is almost over, so just finish your little nap so that others can take their own brake."

"Maybe if you didn't constantly leave early, I could get home at a reasonable hour and get enough sleep." Caroline turned away from her and tossed the cold remains of her dinner, saving only the peach from her plate.

"Oh, get over it. TJ's construction company is sponsoring a booth at the County Fair. I've got to be there to show my support and help out. I'm sorry you don't have anyone in your life to love and support."

"His company also repaved the church parking lot, right? I don't see you there Sunday's giving your support." She arched an eyebrow and took a bite of her peach, enjoying as Dana seethed with anger.

"Fuck off, Caroline. You're just jealous of me and TJ. Get yourself laid and get over it."

Caroline rolled her eyes as she ate her peach and walked back to the couch to grab her apron. "Yes, Dana, that's exactly it," sarcasm coated her tone thickly. "I'm jealous of TJ. His grease stained overalls, beer scented breath, and propensity for screwing you in the back of his daddy's pick up before your shift, really turns me on. What a catch."

"Fuck you!" Dana stormed forward, outraged. "Don't act like your better than me, because you're not. You've got no friends and no boyfriend, Caroline. You've got nothing and I'm sick of you holding your head high over mine."

Caroline rolled her eyes in response, having a mouthful of her fruit, and resisted the urge to give her the finger. She and Dana had never truly been friends, their work ethics and personality too severely different. "Oh, and the boss gave me the ok to leave early tonight. So, have fun cleaning up without me."

Her parting words and grin killed Caroline's remaining apatite, and she tossed the rest of her peach into the trashcan with a growl. "Son of a bitch."

* * *

By dusk, the restaurant was deserted.

The County Fair was a big deal, especially here in the south. The fairground each year was overflowing with assorted attractions; rides, game booths, tents stuffed with tables for bake sales and various vendors, pig races, tractor pulls, and livestock exhibits were among the most popular. The week of the fair business slowed down for the shops and restaurants in the area, and most closed early to attend and to accommodate the event.

When the distant sound of fireworks suddenly rang through the windows of _Bernadette's_, Caroline went to her locker to grab her head phones. The smug expression Dana had worn the rest of her shortened shift, had put her into a foul mood. Now anything to do with her coworker or the fair, left her bitter with the reminder of Dana getting her way once again. She sat herself at the bar with a 'huff' and began to refill each of the napkin dispensers, the sounds of Edith Piaf blasting her eardrums over the celebration in the distant outdoors. Her music was loud enough to be heard in the empty room and it echoed softly, successfully blocking out all other noise.

The soft bell over the entrance door rang out, but was unheard by Caroline, her attention solely on her task.

Caroline hands moved languidly, slowed by the summer heat and her sudden tiredness. Her black capris and red satin cap sleeve top, thankfully, exposed much of her bare skin to the breeze of the over head fans. Lost in the sounds of the iconic French singer and her closing duties, she didn't even notice the figure now standing at her back.

When a cold hand was laid upon her bare arm, much like what had occurred in her earlier dream, Caroline jumped and screamed all of the air from her lungs. Her head whipped quickly to the right as she tore off her headphones, her disc man plummeting to the ground with a crash. It broke in many scattered pieces, her Edith Piaf disc rolling and landing at the feet of a tall blonde vampire.

"I apologize for startling you, it was not my intention to do so," His words were even and polite, but his tone lacked any true remorse. His piercing blue eyes and long hair so striking that she was left momentarily speechless. Even though she was perched high on a barstool, his height and broad shoulders were intimidating above her small frame. Caroline's heart was racing, one of her hands pressed over it firmly and she willed it to settle.

"It...it's alright," she stammered out, her nerves tightening her throat. "Sorry for screaming at you. I guess my music was a bit loud ...a-and I didn't hear you enter." She offered a weak smile.

"Obviously," deadpanned a smooth drawl from beyond the daunting vampire beside her. With a tilt of her head, Caroline peered around the man and saw a woman closer still to _Bernadette's_ entrance, immediately recognizing her as the vampire from Monday evening. The gothic attire was missing, replaced with a pale blue twinset and matching skirt, her striking beauty and blue eyes unforgettable.

The sudden pool of wetness between Caroline's thighs was the direct reaction to the vampires presence. Caroline's gaze was glued to her, her unexpected arousal intense and completely baffling to the waitress. She uncrossed her legs and clenched them together tightly, in hope of fighting the urge to step off the stool and walk towards the vamp.

Pam uncrossed her arms and stood straighter, a wicked grin curling the corning of her lips as Caroline's reaction became evident to her. Her scent assaulted Pam like a spray of designer perfume, sweet and rich. Pleased that the body recognized her, even though her mind was unable to, Pam basked in the scent of the waitress a moment longer before walking forward towards her maker. When she came to stand beside him, his raised eyebrow towards her was responded with a slight shrug, as if to say _'I didn't do anything...'_

The exchange offered little relief to Caroline's confusion to her body's sudden reaction.

Pam turned from her maker to bend forward, and pulled the fallen Edith Piaf disc from the floor. She held it out pinched between two fingers, her eyes dancing with humor as she taunted Caroline. "You dropped this."

A wave of embarrassment washed over Caroline as she took the item, forcing herself not to retort with her own _'obviously'_ at the vampires goad. She couldn't understand what is was about this woman, that unraveled her so. It wasn't just the fact that she was a vampire. The male vamp hadn't elicited the same responses from her body or the sudden deep jolt.

Caroline's statement of gratitude to Pam as she put the disc on the counter, was unheard as her boss rushed into the room. "What the hell happened, Caroline?" Having hurried down from his upstairs office at Caroline's scream, Thomas Bovill was out of breath and his stout frame was slouched over a bit with his exertion. He trailed weary eyes between the three, walking closer to Caroline protectively. "Is everything alright?"

Caroline spoke up quickly. "Everything is fine, sir. I had my headphones on and did not hear them enter." Eric had turned his attention to Thomas, but Pam's steel gaze remained locked on Caroline.

"We apologize for the disturbance. We are here because we have a business appointment scheduled for tonight. Mr. Bovill, I am Eric Northman." Eric bent his head in terse greeting, but made no move to shake the hand that outstretched towards him in response.

Thomas took his hand back awkwardly, unnerved at the expression Eric had given the offered appendage. "Uh... yes, Mr. Northman, it's good to meet you. I-I've been expecting you. If you'd follow me," he gestured towards to door he'd entered from, "My office is upstairs." Eric responded with another short nod of his head. Clasping his hands behind his back, he stepped forward to follow the short man across the room.

Caroline waited for Pam to follow after Eric and Mr. Bovill, but her step forward brought her directly in front of her stool at the bar. Not in the direction Eric had moved. Sitting tall, she was almost eye level with the tall vampire, and Pam had just enough height over her to leer down as she trailed her gaze over Caroline's breast. Her fangs itched to come out as she watched the blush creep over Caroline's skin under the weight of her eyes.

When Pam reached out and took her hand suddenly, Caroline couldn't help but be anything but surprised. Eric had looked so repulsed with the idea of shaking her boss' hand, that she just assumed vampires didn't want to be touched by humans. The cool skin against her own caused a slow chill to run down her back, and she watched cautiously as Pam turned her palm upwards towards their fixed gaze.

"Your lifeline," she said, looking down to read her palm and trailing a finger along the prominent line that arched around her thumb, "...is quite short." Caroline gulped loudly and Pam snickered soundlessly, before raising a brow in mirth. "Guess what that means?"

"Come, Pam." Eric's voice beckoned from across the room.

"I think I'll entertain our new friend, and just let you boys handle the business tonight." Pam replied without taking her eye's from Caroline's. The hand in her palm, stroking gently with her nails and finger tips, began to trail higher and lingered over the pulse point at Caroline's wrist.

"Pamela..." The remainder of Eric's stern statement was in a language Caroline did not know, but her eyes shifted between the pair as they bantered back and forth. Pam apparently lost whatever discussion they'd had, because she looked away from her maker with a low growl.

Eric exited the room, confident Pam would be following him.

"I'm afraid it's all business tonight, peaches." Pam spoke as she stroked wrist to finger tip one last time, before placing Caroline's hand back on her lap. When she finally stepped away to follow Eric, it was with a parting challenge spoke over one shoulder towards Caroline.

"If you're brave enough, peaches, why don't you stop buy the club after your shift tonight?"

* * *

Caroline didn't rise to Pam's challenge that night.

Overwhelmed, confused, and a bit terrified by the vampire and her own reaction towards her, she'd easily chickened out. The moment they'd all disappeared into Mr. Bovill's office upstairs, she'd quickly stuffed the last of the napkins into their dispensers and rushed home. Once there, sleep alluded her and she was up minutes before the sun rose the next day, lost in her thoughts of the vampire.

Her curiosity finally outweighed her fear and misgivings two nights later.

After her shift she walked to the staff parking lot behind _Bernadette's_ with her co-workers, and entered her black Toyota Corolla as if she were leaving. She pretended to fiddle with her radio and waved 'good byes' through her window to each of her co-workers as they drove away. Then, she took one last deep breath to calm her nerves, before cutting off the ignition and leaving the safety of her car.

The walk to the front of the restaurant and then towards _Fangtasia,_ found her struggling to keep her courage and her pace. The areas outside the club was crowded, and she couldn't help but wonder the ratio of vampire to human. Pushing through and around the clusters of people, drinking, smoking, and talking outside the bar, she slowly approached the entrance. The blasting metal echoing through the lot outside the club vibrated almost to her bones, and she wondered the appeal of such music as she neared.

She could see Pam acting as bouncer, stationed at the club's door. Her expression was one of complete boredom as she stands with her hands on her hips. Blocked from the crowd she occasionally sneers at by a dangling red velvet rope, she pulls Caroline closer with her beauty. The pastel twinset is gone, replaced with the return of the gothic look in a head to toe black assemble. A mini skirt with dark tights and tall heels, was topped with a gathered corset styled top that dipped at the valley of her breast. A large dark cross hung low and brought your eyes straight to the pale expanse of her chest.

Caroline was gripped strongly by her allure, and her stride faltered for a moment as she took in her image. She was still in her work clothes, black shorts and a long black tunic top with a thin red belt under her breast. It was a nice enough outfit, but compared to the revealing and leather options the crowd outside of _Fangtasia_ had opted for, she felt a bit out of place. Caroline also wished she had thought to spray a bit of perfume, because she was sure she still smelled of the night's dinner specials.

At least the apron was gone.

She was suddenly pushed aside, and her step forward turned into a small stumble. After straightening herself, she looked up to glare at the back of the man who didn't even acknowledge his rudeness as he continued his pace. He rushed towards Pam and the entrance of the club, hands shaking against his legs and feet moving as if they were on fire.

"Hey," he greets with jittering movements. Caroline inched forward, sensing something off with the man and watching his exchange with Pam from behind a group of party goers.

"You're momma know you're out in the big city?" Pam asks in return to his greeting.

"My momma's dead."

"So am I," she deadpanned. Caroline bit her lip to keep her smirk at bay, amused by Pam's remark. A few of the people she'd hid behind gave her an odd expression, but she didn't notice. "Let me see some ID," Pam ordered the jittery man at the ropes, before reviewing the offered license. "Jason Stackhouse from Bon Temps?"

"Uh huh."

"You related to Sookie by any chance?"

"Uh, yeah. She's my sister. How do you know her?"

"She stands out." The sudden spike of jealousy was unwelcomed to Caroline. She frowned towards the pair, wondering how Pam was acquainted with the man's sister, and if the girl had received the same attention Caroline had. She shook her head to clear the sudden thoughts, and edged forward to listen in on the conversation that was still underway.

"Why are you here?" Pam asks the man. She seemed disappointed with whatever question he'd just answered, but Caroline had missed what she'd asked, as the group around her grew quite boisterous.

"Um, well I heard it was cool... and I wanted to check it out. See what's up, ya' know. I'm one of those open minded kind of guys." He laughs and rubs his hands over his face with edgy movements. Caroline is reminded of a junky from a film she'd rented last month. He couldn't seem to keep still and looked around and behind him with wide eyes. While examining the unique crowd around the club, their eyes meet and she looked down quickly. Worried that Pam will become aware of her eavesdropping, Caroline suddenly felt a bit ashamed of her behavior.

"Tell me why you came here." Pam pulls his attention forward with a powerful gaze that appeared to still and calm his unhinged nerves.

"I want some vampire blood," his words were slow, soft, and honest. He swayed towards her slightly as she arched an eyebrow at his response. "What time do you get off?"

"You came for my blood?" A short laugh and she looks away annoyed. "Yeah, you're right. You're nothing like your sister." The lingering jealousy stirs quietly at the mention of his sister, but Caroline stomps on it quickly. When Pam extends her fangs to the man suddenly, she is flooded with a different reaction, and worries why she isn't more frightened at the sight of them.

"Go on in," Pam dares as she unlatches the velvet rope. She doesn't retract her fangs or move aside, allowing him very little room to pass. "Good luck getting out." Her tone is cold and severe, one Caroline had never heard from her previous interaction with Pam. One she really never thought she'd hear from Pam. The underlined threat chilled the air and reminded her of the fatal truth associated with vampires. They were dead, and it would be naive of her to think that they didn't kill. So, no matter how strong of an attraction she felt towards Pam, it was too dangerous of an association to enter so lightly. She needed more time to think.

Her sudden step backwards, away from Pam and _Fangtasia_, knocked her into a few of the people she'd been concealing herself behind. "What's your problem?" one asked with an annoyed tone, as his friends look down at her with angry frowns.

"Uh, sorry," Caroline mumbles, still walking backwards as she retreats. She turns away quickly. Without a look in Pam's direction she hurries back through the empty lots of the strip mall, towards the restaurant and her car.

"Leaving so soon?" Caroline curses inwardly at Pam's unexpected voice behind her, and almost drops the keys she'd been about to open her car door with. She hadn't heard her approach, but was glad that she hadn't screamed this time a vampire startled her.

"You have excellent timing, peaches," Pam drawls. "I've just gone on my lunch break."

"Um, well... actually I was just about to head home." Pam paid no attention to her remark, but stepped closer so that Caroline was almost pressed back against her car.

"It was very rude of you not to say 'hello' on your _very _short visit." She arches a brow, daring Caroline to deny where she'd just been. "Overhear something you didn't like, peaches?"

Caroline knew she was blushing a vibrant shade of red. She looked away from Pam's heavy gaze, hating that she'd been caught snooping. "I'm sorry."

"I didn't ask for an apology. I want to know what made you leave?" When Caroline didn't reply Pam sprung, trapping her against the car with an arm on each side. She was a good deal taller, especially since Caroline had retired her heels after work and thrown on sandals. Pam took the advantage to lean over Caroline, "Don't make me ask twice."

Caroline had one of two places to look... Pam's intense gaze above her, or her amazing breast that were just about eye level now. She closed her eyes instead. "I...I don't know why I left."

"Liar," it wasn't a growl, but it definitely wasn't the teasing tone she remembered from the other night. Cold fingers clutched her chin firmly an instant later, and Caroline's eyes snapped open at the sudden chill.

"I was jealous," she spit out the first thing she thought of, and hoped Pam would accept it. It wasn't a lie, just not the whole truth. She didn't even understand most of her thoughts, because they were so new and so confusing. There was no way she could possible put them into words for Pam.

"Jealous?" Pam purred the word smoothly with her elegant tongue. She processed Caroline's answer with a curious expression and relaxed her grip on Caroline's chin. "Not of Jason Stackhouse, surely?"

Caroline would have sighed with relief at the softer tone in her voice, if Pam weren't still leaning over her predatorily. "No, not of him." Pam's fingers trailed lower from her chin to stroke against her warm throat, and urged her to continue with a interested expression. "Of you and his sister."

"You know Sookie?" Pam perked up straighter, fingers stilling at the base of Caroline's neck.

"No." Caroline almost growled, irritated by her reaction. Pam laughed in response, obviously pleased with the turn of events.

"Oh, peaches," Pam's mirth reached all the way to her eyes as she stared down at Caroline. The arm still acting as a barricade on her one side, slacked and tangled into Caroline's hair. "Aren't you adorable... and much more so than Miss Stackhouse, in my opinion."

Caroline couldn't help the small smile that curled her lips, but it was quickly replaced with a deeper frown when Pam continued on with a smirk, "But it's a good thing you haven't seen some of the dancers inside Fangtasia."

Caroline opened her mouth to reply, but was silenced as Pam extended her fangs.

"Now, now. We'll have no more of that tonight," Pam smoothed the frown lines on her forehead with soft strokes from the back of her fingers. "As I said, I am on my break," the hand in Caroline's hair tightened slightly, "...and I really shouldn't skip a meal."

The pull of the glamour nearly sagged her in Pam's arms with its sudden intensity. Her arms reached out for the vampire, grasping a shoulder and cradling her head as it lowered to her neck. She shivered as Pam ran her tongue down the length of her exposed neck. "It's like you were made especially for me, peaches," Pam purred and pulled her closer with the hand at her hip. "You fit so nicely against me...

"You taste so, so sweet," her voice lulled Caroline's neck back as she felt the tips of Pam's fangs graze her skin softly, "And look," Pam almost smiled, "Your curls end just before my favorite spot."

Pam bit down, and Caroline entered sweet bliss.

Her moans filled the empty lot behind the restaurant. They were hidden from the eyes outside of _Fangtasia_, but close enough to hear the echoing conversations and pounding bass of the club's music. The fact that they could be discovered any moment, if she grew too loud, added to the excitement and the burn created with Pam's mouth.

Pam slammed her close, pulling deep swells of Caroline into her ravenous mouth as her hands clutched at her back and hip. Caroline held her just as tight, until it just wasn't enough. She needed more. Needed to feel so much more than just the wonderful pull of blood. She needed that pull lower... and deeper. Inside of her.

Quickly and boldly, she pressed her hands between their bodies. One worked to unfasten the button of her own shorts, before dipping inside the dark fabric and into the cotton panties lower on her waist. Rocking against her own hand, her other crept to the hem of Pam's mini skirt and rose underneath it. She brushed the insides of cool thighs after passing the edges of her black tights and the straps to the garter she wore. She found no other boundaries under the skirt, meeting Pam's slick folds when her hand could go no higher.

Pam's fang were still embedded into her neck, but the pull of blood ceased the moment Caroline dipped into her qwim. Her body grew still then, and Caroline slowed the hand in her own underwear, worried that she had upset the vampire or had crossed a line. Pam pulled back slowly, her teeth leaving Caroline with a few falling drops to the sleeve of her top. She froze completely as Pam rose to full height, and gasped at the sight of her red stained mouth.

A cold hand seized the wrist hidden under the mini skirt. It tightened almost to the point of pain before it pulled Caroline closer... and deeper inside of her. Caroline's eyes widened and then glazed over as Pam began to rock against her fingers. Daringly, she added another and used her thumb against the needy nub above the her opening. Pam fucked her hand in earnest then, using it as hard as Caroline was giving. Soon it was the sound of the vampire's moans that were heard in the night.

Then, when one of Pam's hands shifted to mirror Caroline's, they moved together. Buckling their hips against the other, the wild movements pressing their hands even harder and deeper as they pleasured each other.

Pam was losing herself to the brazen human. Rutting against her violently, like she'd lost all of her well preserved control. She'd been with plenty of bold human's before, but none that seemed so in tune with her own needs, wants, and hunger. None of her past human pets had felt any lingering attraction or connection from her glamours, and that in its self was a strong intrigue to Pam.

Of course she also tasted delicious.

_'Oh fuck...'_ Pam nearly spoke out loud, watching Caroline's impulsive movements. She raised her free hand to Pam, the one that she'd used to pleasure herself with minutes ago, to gather the remains of her own blood from her chin and lips. It pooled on her fingers, warm and dark in comparison to the lingering evidence of Caroline's pleasure. Pam's hips buckled uncontrollably, as her human raised the crimson fingers to her fanged mouth for a taste. She sucked the digits hungrily, the combination of the two tastes and Caroline's thrusting lower hand, bringing her close to the edge.

She would not fall over alone, and she intensified her own hand inside Caroline. Plunging deep, she reintroduced herself to the wet warmth and was gratified with the familiar sounds emitting from her partner. Once she'd licked every last drop off Caroline's fingers, she held the hand higher and sank her fangs into the pulse at her wrist. Letting them both finish powerfully and together, equally overcome from the bite and the resulting intensity.

Caroline didn't know how long she blacked out for, but blinked into awareness as she was lowered to the roof of her car. The stars above seemed brighter tonight, as if recharged by the intense orgasm she'd just shared with the vampire.

Pam's smooth voice pulled her from the sky, and she tilted her head up to watch as fingers undid the clasp of her belt. "I love your belt, peaches, it reminds me of the ribbon tied around a present." Pam sat on her knees between Caroline's parted thighs. Parted bare thighs she noticed. At some point during her black out, she'd apparently been freed of her shorts and her underwear. "And your shirt," Pam continued after tossing the belt aside, "...the wrapping paper. A decoration, hiding what lays hidden beneath for me."

Caroline sat up and aided Pam as she tugged the shirt over her head, leaving her clad only in her red lacey bra. Pam took a moment to savor the image in front of her with a strong and greedy leer, before slowly pushed Caroline onto her back again. "And this, peaches," she continued with a purr as her hands moved to cradle the full cups of her bra, "...is concealing my fabulous present."

Pam opened the front clasp but left the garment parted at Caroline's sides, enjoying the contrast of pale skin next to the vibrant red fabric. She tortured her for what seemed like hours ...stroking, squeezing, licking, and biting every inch of the exposed mounds. Caroline felt branded, marked by teeth and lips as Pam's possession. Her back arched off the hood with Pam's ministrations, and she melted with her loss of control.

"What did you get?" Caroline gasped out, speech impaired with the familiar hand creeping lower down her body. "Your present?" she simplified, and enjoyed the amusement she found in Pam's eyes as she played along.

"A new pet," was Pam's reply, before dipping her tongue into her belly button and then pulling at the soft skin around it with a bite. Her nails raked down Caroline's sides as she slowly raised her head to shift her body even lower. She situated herself between Caroline's thighs, her mouth so close to where it was needed. Pam bent slowly, keeping her eyes fixed to Caroline's as she dropped a kiss to the burning flesh and then settled the thighs over her shoulders with a fanged smirk. Another kiss was pressed to one of her thighs before she lowered her mouth to the dripping mound between the legs with a velvet purr, "And dessert, of course."

A sharp _'thud'_ rang out when Caroline's head fell back against the hood as Pam ate her dessert with gusto.

* * *

Caroline jolted awake with a start.

She was in the driver's seat of her car, the windows of her little back car fogged from her sleeping breath. Frowning, her head snapped to the side and she looked around the inside of her car with confusion. She found nothing out of the ordinary at first. Her work apron was on the passenger seat, her purse beneath it with. But, strangely enough, her driver's license was sticking out of a pocket. She stared down at the small card, wondering when she'd taken it out of her wallet, but unable to recall much of anything.

Her keys, she found hanging from the ignition and she turned the car on with a frown.

_'When did I fall asleep?'_ The small digital clock on her dashboard read 2am and Caroline's eyes grew with shock. She'd been out of work for well over two hours, but couldn't recall anything after the end of her shift. The fog slowly dissipated from the glass of her windows and she saw she was still parked in the back lot of _Bernadette's_.

She couldn't believe she'd blacked out again. Her shift had gone well tonight too. With a full staff the work had been distributed evenly, and she hadn't felt overworked or overtired at all during the evening. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, hoping she wasn't getting sick. Promising herself to get a check up next week, she turned to buckle her seat belt so she could go home.

As the strap crossed her chest, she suddenly realized she no longer wore a bra. Again. "What the fuck?"

Caroline lost two more bras the following week.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Regrettably, I own nothing of True Blood or its characters. **

**AN: Thank you guys for all the awesome reviews! It means a lot to see so many put this into their favorites and alerts, especially since it's my very 1st True Blood and Femslash fic. Glad you are enjoying it! **

* * *

**One For the Vault**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

**A ****Dreamers ****Dictionary: What Your Dream is Telling You**

(pg 303)

**Vampire **

_To see a vampire in your dream symbolizes seduction and sensuality, as well a fear of death. The vampire represents contrasting images of civilized nobility and aggression. It may depict someone in your waking life whose charm may ultimately prove harmful. Deep down inside, you know that this person is bad for you, yet you are still drawn to him or her. Vampires also sometimes relate to decisions about sex and losing your virginity. Alternatively, to see a vampire suggests that you are feeling physically or emotionally drained. The vampire may also be symbolic of someone who is addicted to drugs or someone in an obsessive relationship._

**See also the meaning in action: "**Fighting Vampires** and **Alluring Vampires**"

* * *

_'Doesn't everyone fear death?'_ Caroline thought to herself sarcastically. Looking down at the words on the page, she shook her head at the obvious statement. Even though that line could relate to just about anyone, the rest of the passage felt like it was written specifically for her. It truly helped to explain the dreams that had been haunting her nights for the past week or so.

Caroline had only met Pam twice. Both encounters had been quite brief, yet memorable in her normally mundane life. The first one had lasted only a few short seconds, and the second just under ten minutes. Though, at least there had been more than one sentence spoken that time. Then, days after the second encounter the dreams had begun. They came to her each and every night, all of a very sexual nature. So intense and graphic that Caroline woke covered in a sheen of sweat and often breathless.

She'd never been intimate with a woman, let alone fantasized of one before. But since meeting Pam, and with the sudden start of the dreams, now even her waking thoughts drifted towards the woman. Caroline's mornings and days off passed in a blur, as she was still lost in the remnants of the previous night's dream. Most days, she was lucky enough to have work as a slight distraction, but Pam was always in the back of her mind. Especially since _Fangtasia_ was only a few doors down from _Bernadette's_ and she had to drive pass it each work day.

Wondering if she would find 'lesbian' in the index of the dream dictionary, Caroline quickly thumbed through the pages.

"Earth to Caroline." Her head snapped up at the sound of her name being called. Her eyes widened, as she noticed most of her coworkers looking in her direction. "Would you mind putting the book away, so that we can start the meeting?"

"Sorry," Caroline replied in a small voice. Dana snickered at her from her seat across the room, enjoying her embarrassment a little too much. She shut the book and stowed it away in her purse with quick hands, cursing inwardly. She'd even arrived early for the staff meeting, and was now mortified for now being the apparent cause of its delay.

Caroline ignored the familiar warmth on her cheeks and gave her full attention towards Stephanie, the restaurant's manager and Mr. Bovill's daughter.

"Ok, before dad comes down to make his announcement, I'd like to go over a few things with you all."

Schedule changes, the list of the coming week's specials, and general announcements were given to the staff all gathered in the dining room of the restaurant. Caroline took her notes dutifully and copied her schedule as it was passed around. Her attention only taken off Stephanie when Mr. Bovill entered the room suddenly. He he moved to stand by his daughter, and his unsmiling expression was rare for his normally cheerful demeanor.

Quietly letting his daughter finish her last lecture, he glanced out at his employees with an foreign expression. "All yours, dad."

"You all know that the nearby vampire club has affected our business positively," Caroline was one of the few who gave a silent head nod in affirmation, but all eyes were on him. "Well, I've been approached by the owner to sell a bit of their merchandise. Mostly mugs and small touristy items, much like we already do for the local artists. Since their doors don't open until 9pm, they are missing out on a lot of possible sales in that department."

"You didn't agree, dad?" Stephanie interrupted with a look of horror. The shelving unit the restaurant's register was atop of did hold the pottery collection and handmade crafts of a few of the locals, but vampire products didn't exactly fit in, in the manager's opinion. Stephanie Bovill hated how close her family's restaurant was to _Fangtasia_. She'd even been one of the many that had signed the failed petition against the club's opening.

"I did," he answered and the staff erupted in ciaos at that moment. Various reactions over the decision were shouted out, most not in the positive. "Everyone calm down," Thomas talked over the crowd, motioning with his hands for them to lower their voices. "We're just putting in some addition shelves by the register to attract some attention as folks pay their bills."

"Are we going to be serving True Blood now too? I don't want to talk to any vamps!" Someone spoke up over the rest.

"We will be keeping True Blood on hand," he answered with a short nod. "I placed an order last night and it should be here by the end of the week."

"Dad..." Stephanie tried to reason with her father, but he cut her off quickly.

"It would be improper of me to support their merchandise, and the profit I make from them, but not to support the vampires themselves. If they choose to come to my restaurant and I do not have True Blood available, that's exactly what I'd be doing."

"They are what's improper!" Dana's shrill voice echoed. "Immoral too."

"Settle down!" Thomas shouted over the boisterous agreements to Dana's statement. "Times are changing and we are going to change with them. I didn't hear any complaints when I added more shifts with the new hours. You didn't mind the vampires then, when they were bringing in new customers and raising your wages and tips each shift." That silenced most of them, but unhappy expressions were worn by them still.

"I don't expect us to get many vampires. Since _Fangtasia_ is so close, I'm sure they'd much rather go there," he tried to reassure. "But," his gaze was stern and the pause in his speech was weighed with importance, "...if we ever do get a vampire, and they are not treated with the same respect as our other customers, there will be consequences. Ones that could lead to an eventual termination if I choose so.

"Now, I don't expect you to push the merchandise like our lunch specials, especially if you're not comfortable with this situation yet, but you won't be negative about this. Especially to, or in front of, any of our customers ...no matter their views."

Glancing over at the deep frown on Dana's face, Caroline had to make a great effort not to smile at her coworker's frustration. She had no issues with any of Mr. Bovill's announcement. In fact, she was excited at possibility of meeting more vampires.

"I am also going to need to assign someone to be responsible for our new product line," he continued and walked around the tables as he spoke. "This person would need to take constant inventory of the products and will also be responsible for restocking the display as needed. They would be acting as liaison with the staff of _Fangtasia_ to place the orders and receive the stock. I'd like to ask for a volunteer, since this is such an apparent issue with most of you.

"Any takers?" Most looked down, refusing to make eye contact with Thomas as he looked about the room expectantly. Even his own daughter refused to met his eyes. She still looked furious over his announcement.

From her seat in the back, Caroline watched her cowardly coworkers with a thoughtful expression. Then, she sat up a bit straighter and slowly raised her hand in the air. Her boss caught her gaze immediately, and smiled warmly to her. "Thank you, Caroline."

For the second time that day, the staff of _Bernadette's_ looked in her direction. Some seemed grateful that she'd stepped forward and others, like Dana, looked at her with appall. She distinctly heard someone nearby mumble '_freak', _but could care less at that point. Her thoughts had once again led to Pam and to her increased chances of seeing her again.

_'Fear of death'_ indeed.

* * *

"Here is your order," Caroline smiled as she lowered the warm plate to the table. "Can I get you anything else? More to drink?"

Her customer, a pleasant older man, raised his head to reply but froze suddenly. With his mouth hanging open and the fork in his hand sagging, Caroline first thought he might be having a heart attack. Then, she quickly noticed a few nearby customers with the same expression of shock, all staring pass Caroline and towards the front of the restaurant. She looked over a shoulder to follow their eyes and spotted quickly what had shocked the customers so.

Standing just inside the restaurant's entrance was the most scantily dressed woman Caroline had ever seen in her life. The petite blonde wore an extremely short black skirt, one that was tight enough to see the outline of the thong she had on underneath. Her glittered teal top wasn't much of a top, but more of a piece of spare fabric that barely covered and contained her breasts. Her makeup was heavy and colorful, and her short hair teased high. The blonde smiled warmly to no one in particular, before approaching the counter.

Caroline walked forward with a curious expression, also noticing that the woman had a large cardboard box with her. "Hi, um...table for one?"

"Hey there! Oh, no I'm not eating," she smiled and answered Caroline with a warm southern drawl. "I'm Ginger ...from Fangtasia."

"Oh! Hello," Caroline took the hand offered in greeting, Ginger's gold bangle bracelets rattling with the motions. "I'm Caroline."

"Hi, Caroline," Ginger replied with an airy voice and a constant smile. "Nice to meet ya'."

"It's nice to meet you too." Caroline couldn't help but stare at the bite marks littered over Ginger's skin. Holes decorated her neck, shoulders, and wrists, like accessories. She averted her eyes quickly and gestured to the box at Ginger's feet, "Um, is that the merchandise?"

"Yup, sure is! Got your first order right here." She kneeled down and opened the flaps of the lid. Caroline quickly followed and kneeled down with a blush. She blocked the view up Ginger's skirt that was now offered to the closest customers. "The top selling t-shirts are at the top," she continued on, oblivious or simply unconcerned about her revealing position. "It would probably be good to put them on the upper shelves. I think. That's what we do anyway."

"Oh, thank you." Caroline replied with a genuine smile, surprised but thankful for the effort made by the staff.

"And the forms for the next couple of orders are in there too. You can drop it off at the club or our number is on it, so you can just call it in too." Looking through the shirts and other items, Caroline laughed at a few of the puns and sayings on the items. "That one's really popular," Ginger commented as Caroline held up a black shirt with bright red letters.

**Add Some Bite to Your Night**

"What's it like... um, working for vampires?" Caroline asked suddenly, unable to hold back her curiosity any longer. She'd self-consciously lowered her voice before asking, not wishing for her coworkers or customers to overhear and interrupt.

"It's so exciting!" Ginger practically squealed, her breast bounced nearly out of her top as she jumped a bit with her words.

Caroline grinned at her reaction, also glad to have finally met someone who was around vampires often. The fact that Ginger seemed to enjoy her job also pleased her, even if the bite marks worried her a bit. "Are you ever scared at all?"

"Well, it can get a bit intense sometimes, but it's really fun. I like meeting all the interesting people who come in. And Mr. Northman is a good boss. More fair than a lot of the others I've had."

Caroline nodded her head, taking everything in. She was glad to hear Ginger's remarks on Eric, especially since Mr. Bovill now had a business arrangement with him. Her boss was a good man, and she didn't want to see anything bad happen to his business from this deal with Eric.

"What's Pam like?" she asked, biting her lip.

"Um, well... she's hard to describe."

"Is she always so... so flirty?" Caroline asked, too impatient to wait for Ginger to elaborate. Eager to learn more about the vampire who visited her nightly in her fantasies.

"I don't think we know the same Pam, sweetie." Ginger laughed and rose to her feet. "I should get back to the club, now. Gotta be there to sign for a shipment and set up for opening. It's just me and Belinda while its light out, so there's a lot to do. But it was really nice meeting you Caroline."

"You too, Ginger."

They waved to each other with smiles, before Caroline watched her slip out the door and walk along the sidewalk toward _Fangtasia_. The box was heavier then it looked, as she lifted it from the floor and made her way to the backrooms. Walking along the space between the bar and the tables, many eyes peered at her from their seats. All were desperately trying to read the dark red letters printed on the one side.

The ones who were successful gasped in response.

* * *

After closing Caroline rolled her eyes as Dana quickly disappeared behind the bar, choosing to clean the small space rather than help her clean the many table surfaces that were far dirtier. She was sure she'd get stuck with sweeping and mopping the room as well, but swallowed her complaints. If she started a fight now, Dana would do even less work whenever they shared a shift.

They both looked up from their work when Mr. Bovill entered the main room suddenly. He interrupted to ask that Dana do the clean up and set next day preps tonight, so that Caroline could set up the_ Fangtasia_ merchandise display. Shock was evident on both of their expressions, but Caroline recovered quickly. Abandoning the sponge she'd been cleaning with, she walked past a fuming Dana to retrieve the box of merchandise.

Much to Caroline's enjoyment, Dana was bitter the rest of the evening. She glared often in her direction, and Caroline even heard her complaining to a few of the kitchen staff. Caroline ignored her and worked diligently on setting the display. She took to heart what Ginger had told her, and set the shelves as they were at _Fangtasia_. The finishing touches were put it just as Dana finished the last of the closing duties.

When the staff walked out together, Dana brushed past Caroline with a rough shoulder shove that nearly knocked her off balance. She didn't bother apologizing as she continued her stride, but Caroline wasn't too upset by it. Seeing Dana on her hands and knees, scrubbing away at spilt barbeque sauce, had been too happy of an image to let a small shove damper her current mood.

"Jeez, what's her problem?" Dale, one of the chefs, asked Caroline as they walked to their adjacent parking spots.

"Karma," Caroline replied with a smile, looking over her shoulder as Dana slammed her car door shut and sped off. A soft breeze followed their steps and she was happy for the break from the recent heat wave. Caroline never did like the heat, and if it weren't for her beloved family home she would have moved north long ago.

"What happened to you car, Caroline?" Dale asked curiously, turning her attention forward from the road.

"What do you mean?" she replied as fished her keys from her purse. Looking at her little black car with careful inspection, she could not spot anything amiss. "Nothing is wrong with it."

"Something scratched up your roof real bad. Just look at it," he moved aside so she could step forward. Rising up onto the tips of her toes, she looked over the roof and at the dents and scratches that were scattered over it."

"Holy shit! What could have done that?"

"A tap dancer maybe," he replied with a lazy grin.

His chuckle annoyed her and she replied with a dry, "Funny."

"Do you have a lot of low hanging tree branches in your driveway or something?"

"No," she answered, looking over the damage. "It's all pretty open. My family used to breed horses, so it's mostly open fields. The trees are tall, no low branches at all."

"It's not a big deal," he tried to reassure her as her frown grew. "Just a bit odd. Take it by my brother's shop this week. I'll make sure he gives you a good deal."

"Thanks." She mumbled, running her fingers over a prominent scratch close to the edge. _'What the hell had caused this?'_

"Hey, so why did you volunteer for the vamp gig? Not just so Dana gets stiffed every now and then right?" he asked curiously, shifting an arm to lean against her car. With his taller frame, his step forward took up too much of her personal space.

"No, that was just a bonus," Caroline laughed softly with him, but took a step backwards. She was suddenly struck with an odd feeling of _déjà vu_ at being trapped between a body and her car. "I was working the night two of them came in for the meeting with Mr. Bovill, and they really didn't seem so bad."

"Huh, really? I've never seen one myself. Got no real inclination to, though. So, I guess its best that I'm stuck back in the kitchens," he laughed, ruffling up his hair before replacing his baseball cap on his head.

"Guess so," Caroline forced a smile in return, eager to head home. She opened her car door, but instead of backing up like she'd hope Dale would do, he shifted to rest his arms on the top of her opened door.

"So... you seeing anyone right now, Caroline?" he stared down at her intently.

"Um..." She played with the keys in her hands. Thinking to herself, _'Do obsessive fantasies about a vampire ,who you've only met twice, count as a relationship? Or as a good basis for one?' _

"It's complicated?" he guessed at her long pause.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Well, his loss I say. If you ever get sick of his bullshit, just let me know." He winked at her and Caroline bit her lip to keep from laughing at the situation. If he only knew how _'not her type'_ he apparently was now.

"Good night, Dale." It was all she could say, before closing her door and driving away.

He watched her go before turning to his own car. The loud voices outside of _Fangtasia_ drew his attention in the direction of the club as he lowered himself into his car. Spotting a woman at the doorway of the club glaring at him, he frowned. The blonde looked murderous, almost as if she were about to march over to him and cause serious bodily harm. "Creepy..."

* * *

Caroline was more alert on her way home, watching for any low branches that could have caused the strange damage to her car. By the time she pulled into her driveway she was even more puzzled, her search having turned up nothing.

At night, the driveway to her home was pretty well camouflaged from the road by the full trees and brush. The small white mailbox the only indication of where to turn. Her driveway dipped into the foliage with a slight curve, offering much privacy from the road's sight. But the trees along it were high and the width of the driveway was enough so that even the large horse trailers, that used to drive the path, had done so comfortably and safely.

She'd driven the path since she was a teen, and knew the damage to her car's roof had not come from her property. Just under half a mile in length, the driveway opened up at the end to the view of her grandmother's house. It was a modest, one story, L shaped home, painted white with black shutters. The view of the home was one of Caroline's favorites, her home settled just beside the acres of open land that hadn't been sold off over the years, so green and open. Wood fences separated some of the land from the woods just surrounding her home, the area the horses use to spend their days grazing.

Caroline loved her home. It's walls were filled with the fond memories of growing up with her grandmother. Her aunts and cousins had been around often when she was younger, but they spent most their time with the horses, running the family business. Caroline's fear of the animals when she was young had kept her close to her grandmother's side. The wheelchair her grandmother had been confined to kept the pair from the stables and the main family home on the other side of the property. Their days had been spent in the house she now lived in, the one specially built after her grandmother's accident.

Watching the dust of the gravel settle in her rearview mirror, Caroline slowed to a stop on the smoother pavement just in front of her home. The light above the front porch was bright against the dark night around her as she cut the engine and the lights of her car. She approached her quite home on the small ramp that connected the porch to the driveway. Steps could easily replace the ramp, but she loathed to make changes to the home. Worried she would lose bits of her grandmother with each alteration.

Inside was dark and cool. Caroline added little light as she walked through her home, going through her nightly preparations for bed. The hour was late but she enjoyed the quiet calmness inside her home. Still fueled with the excitement of the day, Caroline settled into bed with a book and fought off sleep easily.

She'd lost herself in two chapters worth of the story, before a sudden knock at her door startled her from her reading. Tearing off her reading glasses, she peered at her bedside clock with a scowl. It was nearly midnight and she could not imagine who was at her home so late. Most people couldn't find her driveway when they intended too, so she didn't often get unknown visitors.

The knocking persisted and she cautiously made her way to the door with quiet footsteps. The front of her house was dark, and she used the advantage to peer at her caller through the sheer curtain of the window beside the door. She did a double take then, not trusting her eyes as she recognized the woman standing on her porch.

"I can hear you breathing, peaches. I can smell you too."

"Pam?" was her only way of greeting as she flung open the door with a surprised expression. The night's breeze was stronger and she pulled the opening of her light robe tighter against her. It reached mid thigh, and left much of her visible to Pam's eyes.

"Hello, peaches." Pam, still dressed in her work clothes, smiled down at Caroline. She looked over her with a lazy trail of her eyes, seemingly pleased with her state of undress.

"H-how do you know where I live?" Caroline took in Pam's in outfit with appreciation as well. The dark strapless leather dress was tight and form fighting against Pam's soft curves. A zipper ran from top of the outfit, between her breast, to the very bottom as it ended just below her knees. Caroline had the sudden urge to reach out for the zipper, and to tug it downward. Curious of the view that lay beneath.

"You're in my vault, of course."

"Excuse me? Your what?" Caroline frowned, thinking she'd misheard Pam's remark. She'd been a bit distracted by the vampires attire. And cleavage of course.

"No matter. Are you going to invite me in or not? It's quite rude to go on like this." Pam looked beyond her and into the house, taking it in with a favorable eye.

"Sorry... I'm just... I didn't expect to see you. Why are you here?"

"You've been asking questions about me. Why not go straight to the source?" Caroline's eyes bulged and she realized everything she'd asked Ginger earlier had been shared with Pam. "Don't be offended with Ginger, she couldn't help it. Not too bright that one." Pam took a step closer, now just beyond the entrance of her home. Held back by an unseen force.

"I was just curious," Caroline nearly whispered, looking down from Pam's blue eyes.

"That's fine, peaches. I'd just rather be involved with your research, if you don't mind. Could be fun," she ended with a wink. "So, can I come in?"

Caroline swallowed a deep gulp of air. This moment felt like it was the breaking point for something. Something important. It was as if she was standing at the edge of a cliff, one foot off the ground already, prepared to jump off. She knew Pam was dangerous, but that was a small part of her appeal. Caroline's life thus far had very little danger and excitement. Pam would certainly offer both those things to her, wrapped tightly with a bright beautiful bow.

Of course, this bow had fangs.

"I..." she bit her lip, staring out at Pam with hesitation. This beauty could kill, but deep down Caroline trusted that she wouldn't be harmed. A foolish thought perhaps, but she supposed she was ready for a bit of foolishness in her life. "Yes ...please come in."

Caroline stepped aside slowly, holding the door open as Pam walked into her home. Her tall stilettos echoed loudly in the entranceway, the only sound in the quiet home. "This is a lovely home," she commented after taking a slow turn, looking through the open arches into the living room and dining room. The entire home was laid with dark walnut floors, their almost black coloring contrasted beautifully with the white walls and light rich colors of the furnishings. "How in the world do you live here on a waitress' salary?"

"I inherited it," Caroline answered quietly with her back close to the front door. It was a strange sight, seeing Pam and her crazy outfit standing in the home she'd grown up in.

"Interesting. So, what... you work for fun?" Pam asked as she looked at the photos lining the hallway wall.

"No, I still have bills to pay. I need my job." Pam paused in front of a framed photo, Caroline's favorite, and she moved forward to stand with the vampire.

She was five, maybe six years old, in the picture and sitting on her grandmother's lap. The wheelchair was hidden behind a thick bush of peach colored roses, and the garden they sat in framed the backdrop. It was the garden behind the main house, a stunning immense plot full of a variety of colorful blossoms. The pair rarely went to the main house. Its bi-levels and stairs were too hard on her grandmother's chair, even with a servant or a relative's help navigating. The photo was taken on one of their rare trips. They'd spent the entire day in the garden and Caroline had been given her first painting lesson that day. Her younger self was holding out her completed picture towards the camera, her grandmother was laughing behind her. Caroline's young smile was bright, her face smudged with paint from the lesson.

"You were a fat child," Pam remarked matter-of-factly, breaking Caroline's warm nostalgia. "I'm glad you grew out of it." She turned towards the vampire with a shocked expression, before bursting out with a loud laugh. At least she knew she'd never have to worry about honesty with Pam.

"Thanks... I guess," her laughter drew an arch of Pam's brow, but Caroline distinctly saw the corner of the vampire's mouth turn up slightly before she moved away.

She walked about the front hall and took in the surroundings quietly. Then, turning away from the doorway she'd been looking through, she fixed Caroline with a hard look. "I'd like a tour now," Pam spoke suddenly.

"Um... alright. Where would you like to start?"

"Where do you think?" Pam's gaze turned sultry, nearly buckling Caroline's knees with the strength of it.

"Well," she looked away from Pam and took a step in the opposite direction of her bedroom, "the living room has a great view and the-"

"Fuck the view, peaches." Pam crept forward with slow steps, coming to stand a breath's length away from Caroline. "The one in the living room isn't exactly the view I'm interested in."

Her hands reached forward and pulled the ties of Caroline's robe from the knot. When they fell to her sides, Caroline's hands lurched up to grasp the edges of the garment. She pulled them shut tightly with a gasp. "That's really fast. I-I don't think I'm ready to..."

"Are you sure, peaches?" Pam questioned in a whisper, leaning forward until their cheeks were side by side and Pam's mouth was pressed to the shell of her ear. "I think you are _more_ than ready for this. I think you want this so badly, that you can't even put it into words." Her hands didn't try to pry Caroline's grasp from her robe, not wanting to startle her. Instead, she rested them firmly against her hips and pulled the girl's waist close to her own. Thumbs trailing circles against the silky fabric of the robe, she pulled her head back to look deep into Caroline's eyes.

"But I won't make you ask... or even _beg_ for it. Just a nod of your cute curly head is good enough for me tonight."

One hand left Caroline's hip and moved to trail against the smooth skin between her breast, exposed from the parted edges of the robe. Pam ran the back of her cold fingers up and down Caroline's chest, duplicating the movement slowly and softly, over and over again. Each time she brushed against the robe with a little more persistence. Until the fabric began to move open an inch with each downward stroke.

Caroline's breath was labored. She held the fabric over her breast with shaking hands, but let Pam part the rest of the garment. Her stomach and lower body were soon fully in view, exposing even her underwear and the tops of her thighs to Pam's eyes. Fangs released at that moment, and Pam looked down at Caroline with obvious desire. Trailing her fingers lower, to the edge of Caroline's underwear, she dipped inside to run along the edge of the fabric. Goose bumps raised over the uncovered skin and Pam trailed her hand north then, over the small bumps. Fingers coming to rest against the rapidly beating pulse of Caroline's neck. She fingered the gold chain there, the small Eiffel Tower charm shifting with the movement.

Pam looked deep into Caroline's eyes. Emptying her thoughts, she prepared for the pull that would begin the connection for her glamour. Her patience had run out, and she was no longer willing to wait for Caroline to submit to her. She could take her time to convince her another night, too eager now to taste every inch of her newest obsession.

Just as Pam was about to start the glamour, her human surprised her. She nodded her head softly in compliance and, to Pam's utter delight, Caroline then let the robe fall back and off of her body completely. It fell in a silky pool at her bare feet, circling her and leaving her clad only in her underwear.

"That 'a girl..." Pam beamed before hauling Caroline close. Plunging herself in the familiar sweet scent she'd grown addicted to, Pam swallowed the moan trapped at her lips.

The glamour was forgotten. Now unnecessary.

**TBC**

* * *

**AN** - the excerpt on vampire dreams was taken from this site h t t p : / / w w w . d r e a m m o o d s . c o m / (just remove spaces). I don't usually remember my dreams very well in the morning, so I can't tell you how accurate the site is. But it was perfect for Caroline, so I used it!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of True Blood or its characters. BUT if the owners are willing, I'd like to make an arrangement for shared custody of Pam. The line for Eric is too long...**

**AN: Thank you again to all my wonderful reviewers! Heart you all! Sorry for the delay. Classes are in full swing and melting my brain! Ok, I certainly earn the story rating in this chapter, so you've been warned of smut. Smut, smut, smut. Return of plot next chapter! **

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* * *

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**One For the Vault**

**Chapter 4**

_"That 'a girl..." Pam beamed before hauling Caroline close. Plunging herself in the familiar sweet scent she'd grown addicted to, Pam swallowed the moan trapped at her lips_.

Pam's face was buried in Caroline's neck and hair, soaking in her scent. "So, sweet," she purred. Caroline smiled and couldn't help but be pleased with her response. Surprisingly, she was comfortable with being so naked and exposed in front of the vampire. She'd expected a storm of nervousness, but only felt extreme levels of excitement and arousal.

The dark leather of Pam's dress stuck to Caroline's naked skin as she pulled her closer. It was much warmer in comparison to the open air chilling her back as she looped her arms around Pam's shoulders and neck. Holding onto her tightly, she was suddenly lifted from the ground in response. Her house flew by in a blur as Pam navigated through it in search of her bedroom. Caroline's small bedside lamp, the only light on in the house, called out to Pam with assistance and lured her towards the room.

"That concludes our tour ...and now onto the main event," Pam said in a seductive voice, as she crossed the threshold into the bedroom. Caroline fell with a bounce as Pam deposited her on her four-poster bed with a swift toss.

Pam then gifted her with a smirk and a quick wink before her eyes fell shut, suddenly overwhelmed by Caroline's delicious scent. It was truly intoxicating. Caroline's presence was so strong in the room, almost too much for the captivated vampire. She shook herself from the haze and slowly moved to grip one of the wrought iron bedposts. Using it for balance, Pam bent to remove her tall stiletto heels. She flung them aside carelessly, neither of the women looking to watch them land. Their gazes were once again fixed intently on each other.

Caroline crawled forward on the bed on her knees, reaching out towards Pam with anxious hands. "Don't," she spoke in a throaty hush, catching Pam's colder hands in her own. The vampire had been about to lower the zipper of her dress, but Caroline couldn't allow that. She wanted that honor for herself.

"Let me..."

Pam's expression was unreadable, but she lowered her hands after a moment in response. Stepping forward, she willingly met Caroline at the edge of the mattress to give her better excess. Caroline couldn't hold Pam's eyes after that moment, and her own lowered to the task as her hands moved forward. The zipper moved smoothly and Caroline held her breath as the sound of it hummed in the room and almost echoed in the restless silence.

"Fuck..." she gasped out loud, as the zipper fell and unveiled the vampire's body. Pam arched a brow in question to her remark and Caroline blushed. "Sorry. You're just ...gorgeous."

Pam's brow settled and she beamed at Caroline, "Thank you, peaches."

"Why do you call me 'peaches'?" she asked suddenly with a soft tilt of her head, hands stilling with the thought.

Pam paused and she almost looked guilty for a moment. It passed quickly. "Because I do," she finally replied with a roll of her eyes. Looking away, she pulled her dress the rest of the way off. "I think we're getting off topic."

Caroline forgot what she'd even asked when Pam moved away to place her folded dress aside. The sway of her hips as she walked drew Caroline's eyes to the dark lace undergarments the vampire wore. Her mouth practically watered as her eyes traveled over toned legs, thighs, and ass. When Pam turned, the displayed stomach and lace clad breast were just as appealing. Caroline was truly conflicted, wanting to see all angles of Pam at once and wondering how to make it possible.

"Much better..." Pam drawled, noticing Caroline's gaze as she sauntered back to the bed.

"Lay down," she instructed and Caroline quickly moved to comply. Pushing herself backwards, she fell back against the pillows and eagerly watched Pam climb onto the bed. Approaching on her hands and knees, she crawled towards Caroline slowly from the foot of the bed with a predators leer. Reaching her, Pam moved to straddle Caroline's waist and settled herself upright with a strong thrust against her lower body.

Caroline moaned with the pressure of their touching pelvises, arching off the bed when Pam repeated the motion even harder. "So responsive my little pet."

Pam moved a hand in between them, thrusting with it once before brushing against the fabric of Caroline's underwear. She pressed her fingers into Caroline through the soaked material, before dipping inside the fabric. Instead of entering her, like Caroline hoped Pam would, the vampire tugged at the damp fabric. Pulling it tight in her hand, Pam rubbed it viciously over Caroline's sex. She squirmed about shamelessly as it rubbed between her lower lips and higher over her clit. The friction it caused set Caroline on fire.

Dipping a finger inside of her, Pam leaned forward to murmur, "I'm barely touching you... and yet, you are already dripping wet."

When Pam tore away Caroline's underwear, shredding the innocent cotton, the bed sheets were clenched tightly in Caroline's hands. Then, when she added a second finger, beginning to move them in earnest, Caroline tugged at the soft fabric violently. Pam's other hand moved to her breast and leisurely molested the soft mound in time with her plunging fingers. "I could probably make you cum with just the sound of my voice, if I wanted to. Isn't that right?"

"Yesss..."

"And you like this... _love_ this. Me using you. Taking and giving only what I wish." Pam tweaked the nipple in her hand and pressed the pad of her palm down against Caroline's clit. Her voice dropped to a low whisper, "You'd let me torture you like this for hours, wouldn't you? Controlling everything. Bringing you just to the edge... and then denying you each time. Prolonging your release for however long I choose."

"Oh, god..." Caroline whimpered. The thought of this lasting for hours was maddening to her, but also so _so_ appealing.

"You'd like to be my pet, wouldn't you? So, that I can do this to you whenever I wanted. I'd take you every night, if you were. No matter where, or who you were with. You'd be my toy. My personal fuck toy." Pam eased her movement then, and Caroline whined at the loss of full contact.

"Would you like to be mine, Caroline?" she asked as she leaned back and unclasped her strapless bra. It fell off the side of the bed and joined the lonely stilettos.

"Fuck yes... please!" Caroline cried out, her skin humming with anticipation.

"Such language, peaches," Pam smirked down at her before she brushed the backs her hands against her own breast softly.

Caroline's impulsive response was to haul Pam down to her with a strong hand twisted into blonde hair. Their mouths connected violently. Lips, tongues, and fangs battling for dominance. The kiss was brutal. Boiling Caroline's blood with the intensity behind it. She'd never wanted anyone more. Had never felt the degree of desire and want that she craved from Pam.

Pam pulled back with a growl. Her lipstick was smeared around the edges of her mouth, mixed with the dark shade of Caroline's blood. She sat up in a flash of movement, tugging Caroline up with the same unnatural speed. Her human gasped at the change of position, eyes slightly unfocused.

Pam meant to feed from her then, too furious to continue in the direction that they were. She wanted to lash out. Angry that Caroline had gone against her wishes by kissing her. In the back of her mind she knew the glamour that blocked out their first conversation was to blame, but she desperately wanted to take it out on Caroline. Only the sight of her human's lips, red and swollen, held her back. Traces of Caroline's own blood trailed against her warm skin, around the small puncture marks Pam's sharp fangs had caused during the kiss. Caroline held tightly to her. Looking up at the vampire in her lap with a lack of fear in her eyes that amazed Pam and hindered her intended assault. She frowned at the breather, confused by the trust and desire still strongly evident on her features.

"Yes, I would," Caroline's words were hoarse, as she repeated her answer to Pam's earlier question. "Please..." she begged, trying to pull Pam's mouth close once more. "Yours."

Pam had never seen this emotion directed at her before from a human that wasn't glamoured. Desire was one thing, but Caroline hadn't withdrawn from her intensity, her fangs, or her rage. It worried her, confused her, and aroused her all the same.

Pam's aversion for kissing started decades ago. Her pets had a tendency to grow too attached to her with the action, forgetting that they were merely meals and playthings to her. So Pam quickly did away with the act, refusing to grow silly attachments to humans. She took many at once and ended things quickly. Often with a well placed glamour to permanently finalize it. Eric was the only lover she allowed the privilege in the last decade, but they hadn't been intimate in some time. Pam knew she had a problem on her hands. Caroline was the first breather she'd become so obsessive with in some time and it wasn't smart to allow her the intimate privilege.

Dipping her tongue outward, Pam caught the taste of Caroline that was still smeared on her lips and lost all focus at that moment. The combination of the girls expression and her blood, drove Pam forward and she decided to let their lips to meet once more. She could easily loose herself in this human, but could she allow her control to take a well deserved respite?

Perhaps it could be forgotten for one night.

But only one.

Caroline moved forward and met Pam's slowly approaching mouth. Blood was smeared again, this time staining more skin than the previous kiss had. Pam licked at the crimson droplets around Caroline's mouth in between kisses, purring at the sweet taste of her human. Her hands held Caroline tightly, buried in her dark curls as she pulled her closer. Their breast mashed together, warm and cold skin melting as one.

When Caroline pushed her away suddenly, Pam frowned until she heard the gasp as her human sucked in a breath. So lost in the moment, Pam had forgotten Caroline still needed to breath.

Caroline was inching closer a moment later. Still panting, but unconcerned about her almost suffocation. Her hands glided over Pam in a sinful caress, and urged her mouth near. When Pam bent to meet her lips half way, Caroline held back from the kiss and instead trailed her tongue over the sharp fangs protruding from Pam's mouth. Pam's lips opened wider, her silent shock surpassed by the intense sensation. The blood was licked clean off them and a shiver ran down Pam's spine when one of the sharp points was flicked cautiously.

After exploring Pam's fangs, Caroline went further. Sucking and caressing at Pam's tongue with her own. They both moaned and pressed closer. The kiss turned into a unhurried, deep and sensuous, dance of tongues. Then, without parting mouths, they tumbled to backwards to the mattress. Rolling, thrusting, touching, and tasting.

When their mouths parted finally, Caroline found herself pinned against her mattress with her arms trapped above her head. Pam kept them there with just one of her own, as the other languidly explored and fondled Caroline's soft curves. Her legs were wrapped tightly around Pam, heels digging into Pam's ass as fangs scrapped against her sensitive nipple. She soothed it with her tongue and a kiss when the pain almost dominated the pleasure.

Pam could hear Caroline's blood pumping, her erratic heartbeat, and the shiver that ran through her. She didn't think she would ever tire of the girl's reaction to her touch. Enjoying how sensitive and responsive she was, Pam pushed her further. With her mouth still attached to her breast, Pam rose off her lower body and situated herself at Caroline's side. Perched on her knees beside Caroline's waist, she was centered enough that her hold on Caroline's wrist didn't loosen as she reached with her other to push open her thighs.

Caroline jerked in response to the sudden cold hand on her upper thigh, and held her breath as it trailed higher. In between her legs she was emitting the wonderful aroma of her arousal. The scent of her almost pulled Pam from the breast, but the soft trail of blood a fang had caused needed to be tended to first.

"I meant it."

Pam only heard her soft murmur because of her powerful hearing. "Meant what?" she asked, distracted as she slowly licked at the underside of Caroline's breast.

"That... that I want to be yours. To be your pet, um...your 'fuck toy'." She spoke with difficulty. The mouth at her chest and the fingers slowly entering her a strong distraction. "But... only if I can be your only one."

Pam looked up from Caroline's breast, the weight of her words settling around them. "That is a mighty request, peaches."

"Please, let me."

"What makes you so special?" Pam taunted her as she stilled her hand inside her wet walls and removed it completely.

"Because... because I can't stop thinking about you," Caroline confessed and turned her head away from Pam's gaze, hiding it against her arm. Her blush veiled by her dark curls.

"Look at me," Pam ordered firmly and Caroline slowly complied, "Continue."

"I-I can't stop it. You're in my dreams, my every waking thought, and... even my fantasies. I don't understand it and am so confused by it, but I don't want to deny it anymore. I just want you so _fucking_ much."

Pam watched her silently, knowing that her words were genuine. Her obsession for the girl rose a level higher, and Pam ignored the voice in the back of her thoughts telling her to end it now. "I'm in your fantasies." she confirmed quietly, pride swelling.

The dreams Caroline had were easily explained by the blood Pam needed to use to close the puncture wounds from her feedings. It was a small amount, a drop here and there. Nowhere near enough to form a bond. Just enough to erase the evidence, so as not to confuse Caroline after the glamours were in place. But the fact that Caroline was intentionally fantasizing about her while awake, warmed something unfamiliar in Pam. The image of Caroline touching herself, thinking of her while she did so, made Pam wetter than any past lover had ever achieved.

Eric would be crushed.

"These fantasies," Pam began with a small smirk. "What do you do during them?"

Caroline's brow creased, unsure what Pam meant.

"Do you touch yourself?" she clarified in a velvety tone. "Do you touch yourself while thinking of me? Right here, in this very bed?" Mutely Caroline nodded in confirmation, her blush staining more than just her face. "Where?"

"M-my breast," she answered and Pam rewarded her. Taking the hand that'd been previously holding Caroline's wrists down against the pillows, she placed it on her heaving chest and pulled a breast into her grasp.

"Where else?" Pam continued, playing with the mound how she knew would unravel Caroline the quickest. Caroline panted in short, quick breaths, trying to build the courage to tell Pam. "Here?" Pam trailed her free hand against the tops her thighs, her fingers still moist from having been so deep within her a moment ago.

"Higher," Caroline gasped out. She almost growled when Pam completely bypassed her needy opening, hand falling against Caroline's stomach. "Lower damn-it."

Pam laughed at her in response. "Like this perhaps?" Immediately, she thrust fingers between Caroline's wet folds.

"Oh, fuck," Caroline moaned, her neck arching back as she almost wept from the sensation. "Yes, like that."

"Do you add more fingers? Go deeper? Or harder?" At Caroline's moaned _'yessss'_, Pam did just that. Her blue eyes darkening as she watched her human grind back against the fingers. Fucking herself against Pam's hand.

When Pam shifted lower on the mattress, her hand fell from Caroline's breast. Without slowing the pace of her thrusting hands, Pam lifted one of Caroline's legs and ducked beneath it. She let it fall across her shoulders, watching as Caroline's hands took up her previous position at her breast. She was sure she'd never seen a more erotic sight and smirked softly before lowering her gaze between her legs. The source of the strong scent of arousal wafting around her.

Caroline glistened with her excitement. Pink lips swollen with her lust and from the fingers that currently fucked her slowly. Her soft moans echoed between them and Pam pulled out of her slowly, sucking the digits clean of her juices. The flavor rolled Pam's eyes backwards, a small taste of the feast awaiting her.

"Have you fantasized about this, peaches?" Unable to wait for her response, Pam bent her head to Caroline's mound.

She trailed her tongue from bottom to top. Ending with a slow swirl around her sensitive nub, before repeating the movement in reverse. Caroline thrashed in front of her, and Pam moved a hand to grip her in place possessively. Pam attacked her in an unhurried and torturous pace. Lips, tongue, and fangs working together to bring Caroline to her highest peak.

When her tongue dipped inside her tight wet opening, Caroline whimpered. One of her hands lowered to Pam's hair, caressing it and softly pulling her closer. Pam hummed her consent, the vibrations caressing Caroline's core and causing her to cry out and buck forward. Pam dug her nails into her ass and hips, forcing herself even deeper inside. She lapped at her human's warm taste, her own thighs clenched tight in an effort to dull the slow throb there.

"Oh fuck... Pam. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," Caroline howled softly after what felt like hours under Pam's attention. The vampire smirked against her, before she mouthed a path north to Caroline's engorged nub.

Pulling it between her lips, Pam created a soft suction that caused the hand in her hair to bury deeper. Instead of pulling her closer, like she had before, Caroline attempted to pull her back. "It's too much," she cried desperately.

She cried even harder when Pam thrust her fingers deep into her entrance. The cold digits pistoning the familiar path with her unnatural vampire speed. Caroline was even wetter than before, letting Pam enter her with an ease that drove her deep. Pam ceased her torture on the throbbing clit as she felt Caroline's walls begin to clench around her hand. Knowing she was close to the edge, she trailed her fangs to the soft mound of skin above her nub.

When Pam bit down and broke through her skin, she lapped at the blood and swollen clit at the same time. Sucking both into her hungry mouth with enthusiasm, Pam purred and took her fill of Caroline.

"Fuuuuck!" Caroline screamed her release, the sound echoing through her quiet home. As her orgasm shuddered through her, Caroline gasped Pam's name over and over until her body fell limp against the bed. She shook from the aftershocks, visibly trembling as Pam slowly licked away at the last remnants of blood and her juices.

"You have a foul mouth, peaches," Pam grinned as she finally lowered Caroline's leg off her shoulder and set it on the mattress softly. She crawled forward above Caroline's body, straddling her human and leaning forward. "I like it." Her soft laughter jiggled her breast. They swayed gently and when Caroline finally had the strength to open her eyes, they caught her attention immediately.

Caroline reached out for them, rolling them in her hands gently. Even though Pam's skin was cold, it was soft and pliable to the touch. Pam hummed deep in her throat, thrusting her hips against Caroline's in response to her touch. Caroline rolled one of Pam's nipples, repeating the same actions the woman had used to unravel her.

"I hope you're not tired, peaches," Pam spoke slowly through her pleasure, slowly gyrating her core against Caroline's. "Because we still have a _long_ while until sunrise."

Caroline's gaze snapped upwards to met Pam's, watching as the vampire's cold blue darkened with her arousal. "Who needs sleep," was her smooth reply.

Pam smiled her agreement.

* * *

Hours later, Caroline breathed sluggishly as her erratic heartbeat pounded sharply in her ears. She was on her stomach, pressed firmly into the mattress by the weight of Pam on her back. The vampire was still licking wet trails up her back, cleaning the mess her nails had made earlier. The deep scratches barely registered as pain to Caroline, the small throb was dulled and triumphed by the feeling of Pam's soft tongue.

Caroline felt boneless, her body still recovering from her last orgasm. The strongest from the night, it was enhanced by the unexpected exchange of blood. Caroline hadn't meant to bite Pam. It wasn't premeditated, just thoughtlessly done in the heat of the moment.

Caroline could easily see how much her blood pleasured Pam. Her expression while she drank was truly one of bliss, and she often emitted quiet moans and shudders during the act. It felt marvelous to Caroline and seemed to heighten both of their orgasms. That was the thought that drove her mouth forward towards Pam's neck. She wanted to give as much pleasure as Pam had bestowed on her through their night.

They'd been tangled together in the center of the bed when it happened. Legs scissored, both sitting in each other's laps, their wet cores tightly pressed together as they held each other and rocked. Their movements held no rhythm or gracefulness. So worked up from the night, they rutted against each other wildly. Clit banging against clit and rubbing to together in delicious friction. Mouths were locked in a breathless kiss, that broke often with the wild movement of their bodies.

Pam trailed her lips from Caroline's own and pressed them to her ear. "Cum for me, peaches. Cum for me _now_..." And her words had nearly toppled Caroline over the edge. Her hips were getting sore from the frantic thrusting and the orgasm pooling in her belly was too much to carry any longer.

But she wanted to Pam to fall first for once. The entire night her vampire had made sure she'd climaxed first. Though _very_ appreciative, Caroline wanted Pam to have that honor this last time. Just once Caroline wanted to be coherent enough to watch, listen, and feel every reaction of Pam's release. And with Pam's mouth at her ear, whispering dirty remarks in an effort to make Caroline fail in her goal, the vampire had left her pale neck fully exposed in front of Caroline.

Without a kiss or a lick of her warm tongue as a warning, Caroline simply bent forward with her mouth open wide. She bit hard and was instantly rewarded with a strong coppery taste in her mouth.

Pam's reaction was a carnal howl that bounced off the walls . Her spine stiffened and the hands at Caroline's back turned into long, stinging claws of nails. The throbbing aftershocks of her orgasm vibrated against Caroline's core, and she followed Pam over the edge with lips stained red.

The vampire blood she swallowed left her in a hazy state. Even now, she still felt a bit boneless and moved easily when Pam pushed her onto her back so that they faced each other once more. Her heartbeat was still pounding loudly, almost deafening, but it settled once she looked up into the eyes of her lover.

Pam didn't seem angry with Caroline's spontaneity, in fact she looked relaxed and well fucked. Her hair was a bit tangled, and still had dried pieces of the red wax they'd poured on each other at one point in the night.

"Well, now that was fun." Pam winked at her, chin resting between her breasts.

Caroline replied with a tired, but contented, laugh. "The most fun I've ever had," she grinned, brushing a strand of blonde out of Pam's eyes. She tucked it behind her ear and the movement drew Caroline's eyes to the indents of her teeth slowly healing on Pam's neck.

Pam watched her examine the marks she'd left, before pulling her attention with her next words. "If you're going to be my pet, there are some rules you must follow, peaches."

"Rules?" Caroline's brow creased in the most adorable fashion, and Pam was nearly distracted with the stain of red around her lips. Wanting to lean forward and lick away the remains of her own blood.

"Rule number one," Pam began, voice less tender and more firm than it'd been in over the past few hours. "My blood is off limits. That was fucking sexy, but I am not looking to bond with anyone any time soon, so it was a onetime thing." Pam paused and didn't continue until Caroline nodded with her agreement to obey the request.

"Rule number two ...no kissing. **Ever**. Tonight was an exception. But the only exception. Rule number three ...no kissing. So important, it had to be repeated."

"Let me guess, rule number four ...no kissing?"

"Wrong. Rule number four is no polyester. Makes me itch just looking at it."

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of True Blood or its characters. Yet. I'm saving all my loose change and should be ready to make an offer in say… a decade or two.**

**AN: Thank you to everyone who is still reading and reviewing. Heart you all! Warning for violence in this chapter. Not just a PWP anymore folks! I actually have a whole plotline in mind. Wahoo!**

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**One For The Vault**

**Chapter 5**

With a twist of the nozzle, the cold spray of the overhead shower pounded down against Caroline's naked body. She let out a deep groan at the sudden cold water, but made no move to adjust it. Standing immobile, with her head thrown back, the spray poured down against her front. Goose bumps soon covered the skin that was still untouched from the spray, and her nipples stood erect with a shiver.

It was heaven.

In the past two months, since Caroline had been with Pam, she'd quickly grown accustom to the temperature of the vampires skin. Her summer electric bill was almost nonexistent in comparison to past years, as her constant running of the air conditioner had ceased almost completely. Caroline almost considered removing the eye sore from her window altogether. With Pam at her home each night, keeping her cool and comfortable with just a touch, the machine was of no use.

Closing her eyes from the view of her ceiling, she imagined that Pam was with her now. That it was her presence that was the cause of her shiver, not the cold spray beating against her breast and stomach. The memory of their first night together crept into her thoughts. Everything from that night; from the image of Pam on her doorstep, to the memory of their several rounds of passionate fucking… all added fuel to her building arousal. Caroline had truly felt alive that night. Which she found ironic since… Well, since Pam **wasn't** alive.

But that tiny detail, so far, hadn't become an issue for the pair. Thankfully.

Submerging her head beneath the water finally, Caroline's hands traveled against her soft body as she let the memory replay behind her closed lids. Touching her body just as Pam had, she quickly rose to a high peak of pleasure. So high in fact, that she hadn't heard the bathroom door creak open or the sharp tapping of high heels on the tiled floor. Caroline only startled out of her sinful trance when her shower curtain was suddenly pushed open.

She gasped and her hands flew to shield her breast, covering them in reflex.

"You'll get hypothermia one of these days," Pam told her as she held the curtain open with a muddy hand.

The chill from the from the open shower curtain added to her body's pleasure, but Caroline disregarded the reaction to it as she looked over Pam with shocked eyes, "Pam, what happened to you?"

"A fucking maenad," she growled and began to undress.

Caroline didn't know what a _'maenad'_ was, but she'd be sure to Google it tomorrow.

Because whatever it was, it had truly done a number on Pam. Her pink silk top and matching tweed pencil skirt were stained with dirt and grime. Pam removed her clothing and threw it all into the far corner of the room. Each piece of material landing with a hard toss and a thick sound of annoyance from the vampire. With her movements dried bits of leaves and broken tree branches fell from her tangled curls and landed on the floor, just beneath her torn stockings and dirtied pumps. The vintage shoes were ruined, with one of the heels broken and ready to fall off.

She knew better than to offer Pam condolences for the destroyed pumps. It being a much wiser decision to ignore the pitiful gaze her vampire spared the shoes as she dropped them into the trash bin, and to only offer her a steady hand as she stepped over the rim of the tub.

Caroline pulled the curtain shut as Pam moved past her and bent to twist the temperature nozzle. Steam slowly engulfed them and vanished the chill in the air. Caroline pouted into the mist, but brightened when Pam pulled her forward to share the spray with her. "You are a strange human."

"I just like the cold," Caroline responded. She pressed closer to her lover, proving her point by hiding from the warm water in Pam's strong arms. "You've only made it ten times worse, you know. Now, all I want to do is be pressed up against you like this every second of the day."

"We'd get nothing accomplished," Pam teased and looked down at her with bright eyes, while pushing the wet strands of Caroline's hair from her face. She didn't kiss her like Caroline hoped for, hadn't since that first night. Pam only handed her the body wash from the shelf and smiled, trusting Caroline to wash away the stress of her night and to comfort her in her loss.

They had been her favorite pumps.

Caroline poured the scented gel into her palm and began massaging it against Pam's body. "I wouldn't say that we'd get _nothing_ accomplished…" Her smirk matched Pam's growing expression and the fog of arousal quickly filled the small space.

"Quite the nymphomaniac as well I see."

"That didn't start until you," Caroline defended with a laugh. "And I haven't heard any complaints yet."

"None what so ever, peaches."

* * *

After that night, the next few days turned out to be hell for Caroline.

The maenad, who according to Caroline's strange Google search, was a follower of Dionysus who inspired a state of ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication.

That didn't really explain to her why Pam had looked like she'd lost a fight with a swamp, but whatever this maenad was, it was certainly fucking up her personal life. Caroline didn't need to dance or get drunk to be in a state of _'ecstatic frenzy'. S_he only needed her lover. Ever since the maenad had come to town Pam had been kept away, hunting it and running _Fangtasia_ as Eric was preparing for some sort of important trip to Texas.

Caroline could really care less about Texas and crazy dancing drunks. She just missed Pam and wanted her back damn-it.

"You son of a bitch," she growled at her computer screen. It was noon and Caroline was still dressed in only her robe. She was in the midst of a bidding war on EBay and was quickly running out of the time she needed to finish getting ready for her afternoon and evening shift at _Bernadette's_.

But now, as her previous bid was outnumbered once again, Caroline was also losing the battle on the popular auction website. She looked longingly at the picture of the item. A pair of vintage pink pumps, which looked exactly like the favorite ones Pam had been forced to throw in the garbage the last night Caroline had seen her.

Taking her pent up sexual frustration out on her keyboard, she harshly typed in her maximum bet and entered it on the webpage. Hoping the other bidder wouldn't best it, since any larger dip into her bank account might affect the amount of meals she ate until her next paycheck, she stole a glance to her clock. Caroline still had five minutes until the auction ended and so, with a parting glare to the monitor, she stepped away to rush and finish getting dressed for work.

Clothed in record time, she put on the minimal amount of makeup and rushed back to her computer with a minute to spare. While staring at the countdown on the screen, she pulled the hair tie from her wrist and threw her dark curls back into a simple pony tail.

Pam seemed to have a great fascination with Caroline's hair. The vampire was constantly playing with the curls, tangling her fingers into it while they fucked, or caressing it softly whenever they were close enough. So, she'd stopped getting it cut and had only seen positive results since that decision. Of course Pam loved it, and she told her so often, but now Caroline did as well. It was now long enough to easily tie back, giving her extra time for bidding wars for overpriced high heels for her girlfriend.

Girlfriend.

That word had been haunting her.

Caroline knew there was more to what she had with Pam then just great sex. It wasn't like they fucked all the time. Well, yes… but they did other things as well. Just because they had sex every night, at least twice, didn't make what they shared any less significant. Pam listened when she talked, answered when she questioned, comforted when she needed it, and said nothing when she needed space. The vampire put up with Caroline's endless questions of France, even though it had been decades since Pam had last traveled there. Her expressions were never cruel or condescending when she spoke of her grandmother, and of her love for her. And she had never touched or spoke to her with the cruelness Caroline's past boyfriends often had.

She also made Caroline laugh.

Pam's bitter, sarcastic, and blunt remarks had easily squeezed their way into Caroline's heart and always left her with a chuckle.

Caroline **had** been a fat child, and so her taste in movies was _'atrocious'_, and her eating ice cream from the carton was reminiscent of a pig in its trough… _'How the hell do you always manage to spill it on yourself?' _...and wow, she really had been a fat child.

Caroline pulled her gaze from the photograph on her desk, of her and her young cousins, to look back to the computer screen. Seconds left now and her bid had still not been beat. She wanted so badly to win the shoes for Pam. Because, to a girl like Pam, a great pair of vintage pumps said the same thing that flowers, chocolates, and romantic dinner dates said to a normal girl… girlfriend.

Girlfriend?

"Yes!" Caroline shouted and jumped out of her seat. She'd won the auction and was fucking ecstatic. If an eight hundred dollar pair of shoes didn't scream that she was girlfriend material to Pam, well then Caroline didn't know what would.

She rode the high over her auction win all during her drive to work, and could not erase the smile she wore. It was her first smile in days and she only wished she could share it with Pam. So, she wanted a vampire to be her girlfriend? And so that said vampire had only ever called her _'pet'_. The fact that Pam always put a possessive _'my'_ in front of the word was damn well good enough for Caroline.

For now at least.

It wasn't as if she was in love with the vampire…

Caroline gasped and froze in her seat. Her smile disappearing as her car slowed to a stop on the shoulder of the road. She was parked close to the entrance of the strip mall next to _Bernadette's_. So, close to the job that she was now late to, but Caroline couldn't move. Her gaze turned to her left and she stared at the distant red door of _Fangtasia_ with wide eyes.

"Am I?"

She tore her gaze from the building and her head fell backwards against the driver's seat. "Fuck," she groaned into her hands as they rose and covered her mouth. "I am an idiot."

How could she have let herself fall so completely for a vampire?

They'd never even gone a night, when they were together, without having sex. Never had there been one night where they'd just been together… without being **that** together. How had she convinced herself that she was anything more than a _'fuck toy'_ or _'pet'_ to Pam?

"My pet…" Caroline laughed bitterly as her hands fell to her lap, even more furious with herself as salty tears pooled against her lashes. "Fuck this," she growled before shifting her car into drive. She was going home, packing, and getting the fuck away from Shreveport and Pam as fast as she could. Caroline had never once called out of work or taken a vacation day, so she had plenty of paid time off. She just now finally had a reason to use it.

She needed to get away and let whatever spell Pam had put on her ware off.

Very far away.

Slapping her blinker on, she waited for traffic to pass to that she could pull out and make the u-turn that would take her to her home. Her last parting glance at _Fangtasia _was meant to be a bitter and quick one, but movement on the side of the building trapped her dark eyes.

An unfamiliar pick up truck was parked on the side of the building, in the employee lot. Not in a space, but positioned diagonally and blocking the side entrance to the petite woman trying to make her way into the building. Caroline watched with a frown, as three men crowded around Ginger and kept her from passing into the safety of her workplace.

Caroline jolted into action after one of the men finally shoved the blonde hard enough so that she stumbled backwards and to fell the ground. His strength, and the height of her heels, caused Ginger to land hard on the dark pavement and she winced as her palms and knees were cut and burned.

The tires of Caroline's car skidded on the worn pavement as she sped through the turn that brought her into the club's side lot. She stopped just behind the truck and jump out of her vehicle without even bothering to shut her door or turn off the car. "Hey! What the hell do you think you are doing?"

"Just get on your way lady," the closer of the three men warned her as his two buddies turned back to a cowering Ginger, not finding Caroline to be a threat.

"Like hell I will," Caroline snapped back at him, slamming her door shut. "Get the fuck away from her."

"Fuck off," the fattest of the men hollered at her. "We caught us a fangbanger and now we gonna' play with it for a bit and teach her a lesson. Fuck. Off."

"Fuck you. You rednecks aren't doing anything to her but helping her up and letting her pass," she shouted back and took an angry stomp forward. Caroline only tore her harsh glare from the men to look down at Ginger with a softer expression. "You alright Ginger?"

"Y-yeah," she answered still on her ass, the palms of her hands facing the sky and bloodied from her fall.

"Looks like we caught us two fangers boys," the fat one grinned as he looked back and forth between the women, realizing they knew each other. "Two dirty sluts that like cold dead bloodsuckers instead of a real man."

"Damn straight," Caroline bit back and put her hands on her hips. The voice in the back of her head reminded her that she had just been about to run away from her own _'bloodsucker'_. She shut it up quickly. No need for these three idiots to know that little detail. "And you haven't caught shit, boys. So, let her up and let her pass by or I'll show you why most of your gender is terrified of a woman with PMS."

"Danny, will you shut her up," Fatass ordered the closest to Caroline. "She's louder than my fucking wife."

"At least you can hit her, Pete," the skinny one in the back laughed.

"You're right, Ray," Pete smirked towards his friend. "This bitch don't have a daddy to run home cryin' to, that'll bust my balls every time I put her in her place."

As Danny approached her, Caroline bent to the ground and picked up a decent sized rock. Aiming as she stood, she chucked it hard at him before he was close enough to lay his outstretched hand on her. She nailed him in the ear and he wailed in pain. Clutching a hand over the throbbing spot, Danny hadn't even opened his eyes from the first attack before Caroline had found another stone and sent it sailing towards his nose.

Over Danny's painful curses, and the angry shouts from Pete and Ray, Caroline shouted towards the blonde still immobile and looking stunned by her actions. "Damn-it Ginger, run!"

Pete and Ray didn't even spare Ginger a parting glance as she scrambled to her feet and darted around the back of _Fangtasia _and towards the alley that could take her to _Bernadette's_ dumpster and backdoor. The men only had eyes for Caroline now and they ran towards her quickly. She spun on her heels and made a dash for the street. Screaming out for help, she hoped someone from the road or one of the shops along the strip mall would come to her aid.

She didn't make it far.

Danny stopped her movement forward with one of the stones she had thrown earlier. It hit Caroline hard, at the base of her head, and she saw stars from pain for the first time in her life. The hand she brought down from the bump thankfully wasn't covered with blood, but it had left her disoriented and given the men the chance they needed to catch up. Pete caught her around the middle and hauled her backwards kicking and screaming.

Thrown to the ground roughly after being slapped across the cheek by a few hands, Caroline's hip and elbow collided against the pavement painfully. "It's time to teach you a lesson fangbanger," Pete hissed down at her as the three crowded around her. "And since you let your friend get away, we're all gonna' hafta' play with you."

Fists and boots descended on her and the bright stars of pain from before continued to appear in her vision. As they beat her into submission, she tried to pull her body into a tight ball. Now able to block some of their efforts, Caroline screamed out in pain and for help. A thick hairy fist wormed its way between the arms protecting her head, punching her in the jaw with a resounding _crack_. Her shouts ceased then, the blood in her mouth warm and a challenge to speak through. It spilled down her chin as the blows kept coming.

Through the fog of their strikes, the three hissed every insult one could think to say about vampires and the _'whores'_ that fucked them willingly. She started to black out when Ray began shouting on about how he and his buddies were doing _'gods work'_ and Caroline actually started to wish she'd gone to church more. Maybe it would have dulled the pain?

When they finally paused to catch their breaths, the hard gravel was painted with her blood. Caroline breathed with much difficulty, and looked up to her attackers with defeat. Bones were certainly broken and she was sure there was something wrong about how much it burned when she inhaled. She was too weak to speak. Too weak to escape or to make any more attempts at self defense, she wasn't even sure if she had the strength to raise a choice finger in Pete's direction as he stared down at her and wiped the sweat from his brow.

Some fucking work out.

Pete flicked the droplets of moisture off his hand and his sweat landed close to the eye that was quickly swelling shut. He admired their handy work for a moment longer, before turning away to pick up the stone that was still red with the blood from Danny's broken nose. As he heaved it in the air, posed and ready to strike, Caroline's last conscious thought was of Pam. She hoped it wasn't her vampire that found her cold dead body.

Girlfriend or not, she didn't want Pam to have to see her like this.

* * *

Pam's dark BMW slowed to a stop in front of _Fangtasia _and she was greeted by the glare of flashing lights. The three police vehicles scattered around the parking lot pissed her off immediately. She dramatically rolled her eyes before she cut the engine and stepped out into the ciaos.

"What now?" she asked Eric with harsh annoyance, as she took her rightful place at his side. "We don't even open for three fucking hours. What the hell could we have done while we were sleeping for god sake?"

Eric wanted to smirk at his child's outburst, as he usually found comfort and amusement in her constant sarcasm and disdain for humans, but he was troubled. The heavy thoughts plaguing him had dulled his humor and the normal spark of playfulness that was in his eyes when his child was behaving as such. "Apparently, Ginger was bullied on her way into work this afternoon," he responded in a dry tone.

Pam raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, looking unconcerned. "Is she dead?"

"No," Eric answered and turned his gaze back to the uniformed men still taking statements from the group that had responded after their barmaid had escaped. "Some breather passed by at the right moment. Ginger wasn't even harmed."

"So, we can open then. No deaths. No closed doors."

"Unfortunately, no we can't." He would have sighed with annoyance if there had been air in his lungs. "The human who helped recieved the brunt of the attack after our Ginger got away. The breather isn't dead. Yet, at least. But it was brought to the hospital this afternoon and I know nothing more on its condition."

Pam frowned in aggravation, thinking of the mounds of paperwork and bad press this would cause their club. "Shouldn't you be packing for Dallas?" she asked suddenly, remembering her earlier thought after she'd received his text to come to the club right away.

"Yes, but I awoke to this," he flung an annoyed palm in the direction of the officers, "And couldn't rightfully leave this mess for you to clean up alone."

"Go Eric. Godric is more important."

"He is," was Eric's soft reply and only a human would not have noticed the half an inch his shoulders sunk under the heavy worries over his maker's disappearance.

"Go." Pam repeated sharper, pulling his gaze back to her steeled blue eyes. "I can handle this alone. I'll sift through the bullshit tonight and have us opened for business on time tomorrow evening."

"I know you will." His only hesitation to leave coming from what he could possibly find in Dallas, rather than from his confidence in his child's abilities.

"You will find him, Eric." Pam lowered her voice as soft as they both could tolerate, reading his fear clearly. She spoke a few comforting words in Swedish and then let her tone return to normal. "Now, go catch your plane. I have some police officers to intimidate and insult, and I can't have you in the background receiving their desperate looks for help. It gives them false hope."

Eric watched her stomp off, pitying the men she was quickly approaching, but trusting her to handle the situation. He left with a small smirk at his child's back. Departing seconds before he would have witnessed Pam's shocked reaction to the familiar scent of blood staining _Fangtasia's_ parking lot.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of True Blood or its characters. **

**AN: Thank you reviewers, love you all! Your reviews and messages are better than crack! ...not that I know what crack is like, but I'm sure the happy feeling I get from reading your feedback is TEN TIMES better than it. No major warnings for this chapter. Just a bit of angst, which I'm sorry for. Don't hate me! *runs away* **

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**One For the Vault**

**Chapter 6**

The first time Caroline woke after her assault, she was not conscious for very long. The few short seconds it lasted, seemed like an hour to her pain fogged mind.

Jerking awake strapped tightly to a gurney was a shock, but her movements were barely visible due to the straps holding her securely. Waves of panic washed over her at the unfamiliar surroundings and her disoriented state only increased her alarm. Caroline tried to open her mouth to speak, but a jolt of pain shot through her jaw and her whole body clenched with it as fresh hurt awoke. The slam of opening doors, as she was pulled from the ambulance bay and rolled into the bustling emergency area of a hospital, startled her and rattled the gurney.

It was loud in the hospital. Too loud. A chaotic buzz of orders to nurses and constant questions to the EMTs on Caroline's condition, sounded more like bombs going off to her aching head. Keeping her eyes open to the confusion left her lightheaded and dizzy. It was glaringly bright, and her only view was of strange faces and the quickly passing ceiling tiles and light fixtures. Her view began to blur and she suddenly felt nauseous as the pounding in her head became too much.

Caroline didn't even think to put up a fight as the darkness of unconsciousness asked to take her again.

Hours later, Caroline woke to silence. The only sounds of the room were her own ragged breaths and the constant beeping of the machines beside her bed. The sky was black outside her window and it painted the hospital room in shadows of dark blues and black. There was pain too. So much fucking pain.

The tightness of her jaw trapped her sobs inside her clenched mouth and she could only swallow them back. Her fingers clamped onto anything in reach; the white sheet on her bed, the thin wires that ran from her body, and the railings on the side of her bed. Anything solid enough to grip through her discomfort. A sudden dry cough brought on the most excruciating pain and her spine arched with the resulting heavy pressure pushing against her chest and back.

Blinding tears poured out of her good eye and then blurred the form of the quickly approaching nurse. The heart monitor at her bedside beeping swiftly now.

Caroline wanted to beg her to make it stop. _'Please, just make it all stop.' _But it hurt too much to speak. It hurt to even think. God, it hurt everywhere. So much so, that the firm hand at her arm pushing a needle into her skin and injecting didn't even register to Caroline. Compared to everything else she was feeling, the small needle was trivial.

She'd never-

Oh.

Oh, that felt good...

Caroline blinked heavily and looked up at her nurse. She loved this nurse. Loved her so very much. Loved her and whatever drug she had just injected into her arm, because it was slowly taking away the burning sting and... _fuuuuuck_. That was better.

"There we go," the nurse's kind voice soothed. "Get some rest, Ms. Lambert. You'll feel better in the morning."

'Drugs were awesome' would have been her response, but she was suddenly distracted by the floating clouds above her bed.

She'd tried pot once. The girls from her private school, whom she'd called friends for a very short time, had talked her into it at a party. Caroline had regretted it almost instantly, and felt so guilty that she'd raced home to confess to her grandmother. Her grandmother's mumbled reply about living through the sixties wasn't even processed by her in her worried state as she begged for forgiveness. She hadn't calmed until her grandmother gave her a smile and led her to the kitchen for a late snack.

The single use from her teens was nothing compared to the serious drugs in her system now.

Caroline stared up at the ceiling of her hospital room, letting the wonderful pain killer seep into her system and take away her discomfort for the moment. She felt as if she was floating and sinking into the mattress at the same time. Her limbs felt weightless and made of air, and the most _fabulous_ warmth was spreading down her spine and out to the rest of her tingling body.

She could only purr when a sudden hand began combing through her hair, the long nails gently brushing against her scalp in a sweet gesture. Her heavy eyes blinked open and she couldn't remember closing them. Her nurse had moved to the other side of her bed, her back to the window now as she stroked her curls tenderly. And when had she had time to change? The glaring white of her uniform was gone, exchanged for a lovely shade of lavender that was much easier on her eyes. She smelled better too... somehow like home.

"That feels nice," Caroline tried to tell her, but wasn't certain if her lips had even moved. She pressed her head into the hand caressing her scalp, hoping it could do that forever. "Don't stop."

"I won't, peaches."

"I hate them," Caroline mumbled through the haze of the medicine, frowning as a breeze rustled the chart hanging on the hook at the end of her bed. Had the window always been opened? The cold air felt nice though.

"The ones who did this to you?" Her nurse's voice was lower... richer than she remembered, and she sounded angry about something. Perhaps the breeze was too cold for her. Not everyone liked the cold as much as Caroline.

"Maenads," Caroline replied quietly and blinked heavily with sleep as the hand in her hair lulled her into a familiar comfort. "They really suck."

A lovely arched eyebrow was the last things she saw before her eyes fell shut. A moment later, the bed dipped as a solid form laid down gently beside her. Caroline fell asleep quickly, her face nestled in soft blonde curls and cold arms wrapped around her protectively.

* * *

When Caroline opened her eyes to the sunlight warming her room, it was with no recollection of her night. The morphine her nurse administrated before she'd left for the evening, had assured Caroline a restful and painless night of dreamless sleep. In fact, she couldn't remember much of anything. It took a few minutes for yesterday's events to come back to her. When they finally did, it was in a jumble of images and sounds that flashed in her thoughts like a skipping record.

_"Danny, will you shut her up. She's louder than my fucking wife."_

_"Damn-it Ginger, run!"_

_"At least you can hit her, Pete."_

_"It's time to teach you a lesson fangbanger, and since you let your friend get away, we're all gonna' hafta' play with you."_

As Pete's final words to her sunk in, the last image before the nothing that was her memory, flashed in her mind. It was the sight of a thick stone... quickly falling towards her head. She groaned, remembering all of the events before the stone had fallen with perfect clarity now. From Ginger's frightened expression, to her own calls for help as she was dragged back from view of the road and beaten unconscious. Caroline prayed that those three assholes had been caught, arrested, and then traumatized all night long in their shared jail cell by their cellmate Bubba.

When two Shreveport police officers walked into her room an hour later, she learned that her wish had not come true. She swallowed back the bitter tears of anger as the two uniformed men told her that her attacker's had not been caught, or even identified for that matter. Mr. Bovil, along with a few of the staff and restaurant patrons, had rushed to her rescue after Ginger's hysterical entrance. But they'd arrived just as Pete's pickup truck was speeding away from the shared parking lot, and none had been quick enough to get a look at the license plate. The ones not crouched at her side had been hastily pulling their cell phones out and dialing 9-1-1, distracted at the sight of her... red and bright in comparison to the dark concrete.

Ginger's memory of the men wasn't specific enough in the department's opinion, and they took Caroline's statement with flat eyes and cold voices that surprised her. The pin attached to one of the men's uniform explained their compassionless and blank expressions.

**FELLOWSHIP OF THE SUN**

_We are the Light_

If her left eye weren't swollen shut, Caroline would have rolled both at the police officers. Instead she stiffly answered their questions and only resorted to pressing the nurse call button under her hand when they began asking her how many vampires she's slept with, and the names of her friends who had done the same. The interruption of the nurse was meant to get them to leave. Also, it would have been nice if it reminded them that she was the one laying in a hospital bed broken, while their fellow Fellowship members were out there with only bruised knuckles.

One of the two officers had the decency to look a bit ashamed, and quickly put away his notepad and wished her a quick recovery. His partner, the one wearing the button, had no such reaction. He didn't even bat an eye as the nurse pushed past him to examine Caroline. He actually smirked to himself as he glanced over the arm wrapped in a heavy white cast before he left and trailed after his partner's retreating form.

The poking and prodding the young nurse did as she examined the purple skin above Caroline's bruised ribs, had her regretting the hastily exit of the police. It was difficult for her to label which was more unpleasant; their rude intolerance or the fresh pain waking under the fingers of her caregiver. Both certainly sucked.

There was no button to rescue her from her nurse, so Caroline swallowed the pain the best she could and stared, with wide eyes, up at her ceiling through the uncomfortable few minutes. Grateful when a dose of pain killers was injected into her IV, she relaxed into her pillow as her nurse left to fetch the doctor for his own consult.

The break between the examinations was welcomed, but she didn't know what to do with herself. The window in her room was on the side of her bad eye, and to look out it she would be forced to press the swollen skin against her stiff pillow. The added discomfort was certainly not worth her third story view. The small TV hanging from her ceiling was off, the remote nowhere in sight. She stared at the black screen for some minutes, the small reflection of her bed like a blurred mirror. The details of her injuries couldn't be seen in the glass, from her position across the room, so she slowly lifted the arm not heavy with bandages to press against her face.

The swollen skin and cuts felt strange under Caroline's fingertips. She suddenly was glad that she was unable to see her reflection properly, the texture of her face was depressing enough.

"Caroline?" The hesitant voice and knock at her door startled her. The hand at her face snapped to her side quickly, and she felt embarrassed at being caught examining her bruises. "You up for a visit?" Thomas Bovill asked softly from her doorway, a small bundle of daisy's in his hand.

Caroline nodded her head in reply and pushed herself higher into a seated position as he slowly crossed the room. "Thank you," she spoke, voice raspy and quiet as she took the flowers from him. She couldn't look him in the eye and instead let her gaze rest on the cheerful plants resting in her lap.

"Christ, Caroline," he sighed deeply after looking her over, and sat on the chair beside her bed. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

"I'm fine." She lied, wishing her words could be true.

"Like hell you are!" he huffed out and ran a hand down his face. "What were you thinking, darlin'? They could have killed you."

"But Ginger... they would have just done this to her."

"I know, I know." His tired sigh caused her to raise her gaze, and Caroline was touched with the worry etched on his face. "But damn-it, you've got to start putting yourself first." She frowned and he continued. "I've known your Gran since I was a kid, and you're making my job of filling her last request of me really damn hard. She ask me to look after you and keep ya' safe. Now, I know you got a good head on your shoulders, and your heart is big enough for the both of us, but please promise me you'll start thinking of yourself a bit more."

"It was just instinct."

"Would it have been so hard to lean on your horn, call the police, or to holler into the restaurant **before** you put yourself up against three men?"

"Well, when you put it like that..." she tried for her normal sarcasm, but her voice only sounded dejected.

"Sweetheart," he leaned forward to rest his hand on the fingers sticking out of her cast, "I'm not tryin' to kick you while you're down, but I'd like you to outlive me." He laughed a small tired laugh and seem pleased when she smiled with him. "Because if you don't, your Gran is going to kick my ass when I finally see her again. I wouldn't put it past her to get me banned from Heaven!" he laughed harder and patted her hand once before sitting back in his chair.

Caroline couldn't help but smile at the image Thomas gave her. She could easily picture her grandmother standing between him and the pearly gates, shaking her finger at him before crossing her arms and not allowing him to pass.

"Well, I guess I'll to try and keep you out of trouble then." She smiled and played with the ribbon tied around her flowers. "For Gran at least."

"For Gran," he agreed with a nod.

* * *

The next visitor came late in the afternoon. The walls of Caroline's room were glowing with warm light when the noise of heels echoing from the hall alerted Caroline out of her thoughts. She sat up straighter, unable to stop the bubble of anticipation at who was making their way to her room. She didn't know many who wore heels that loud.

While alone, most of her thoughts that day had drifted towards Pam. Caroline's emotions bounced back and forth from wishing she was at her side, to her thoughts from yesterday; of needing distance from the vampire to asses her feelings and the relationship itself. Wanting Pam near won more than loss as she argued with herself, and she eagerly watched the entrance of her room.

When Ginger rounded the corner and entered instead, Caroline tried to mask her disappointment with a smile. The sunlight bouncing of the sequins of Ginger's top reminded Caroline of the time of day, and she suddenly realized that Pam couldn't visit for another hour or two.

"Hi, Ginger," she greeted as the petite blonde stepped fully into her room.

"Oh, my gosh," Ginger's eyes grew teary as she looked down at Caroline. A small teddy bear, with a pink tee-shirt that read **GET WELL**, was clutched in her hands as she stumbled forward. "Oh Caroline!" The tears fell in earnest then, and Caroline's eyes grew wide with the sudden display of emotion. Ginger ran the last few steps to her bed, collapsing on it with a loud sob. She fell forward and wrapped her thin arms around Caroline, crying into her hospital gown.

Caroline hissed through her teeth at the weight against her bruises, but didn't have the heart to push the woman off. Blinking through the discomfort she could only pat the blonde on the back in a soothing gesture. The motion a bit awkward with her cast.

"It's ok, Ginger," Caroline said. "I'm ok." The whole speech Mr. Bovil had given her earlier, about putting herself before other's, ran through her mind again in a mocking salute. She groaned inwardly. It really was ridiculous to be the one offering comfort, when she was the one marooned in a hospital bed.

"Ginger," she spoke after a few minutes, "I'll be fine. Really."

Ginger sat back slowly, her mascara clumpy under her eyes. "I feel so horrible, Caroline. This is all my fault." Small hiccups interrupted her words, and she looked ready to start crying again at any moment.

"No its not, Ginger," she soothed. "Those men were ignorant assholes, and all the blame is on them. None of this was your fault." Ginger shook her head in reluctant agreement as she listened, but still looked distraught so Caroline quickly changed the subject. "Um... do you want to sign my cast?"

It was something a child would ask, or one would ask a child, but it worked and that's all that mattered to Caroline. Ginger perked up immediately and even smiled with the suggestion. She quickly handed over the small bear she'd brought for Caroline and then dug into her purse for something to write with.

The visit went smoothly for the next few minutes, and Caroline enjoyed herself and Ginger's company. Holding her tiny bear and watching her visitor decorate her cast with hearts, flowers, and words of cheer. Ginger's airy voice as she talked nonstop about just about anything, brought a grin to Caroline's face. Watching the swirl of Ginger's pen on her arm she almost forgot about her troubles. So distracted by her light voice and hand movements, she almost didn't catch Ginger bring up Pam.

"...and I've never seen Pam like that before. I thought those cops were gonna' shit their pants! I've never seen her that crazy, I swear. Not even when that tourist spilled red wine on her velvet dress. Or when this brawl broke out and she broke a nail. Or the time-"

"Wait," Caroline interrupted, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "You saw Pam yesterday?"

"Well, yeah," Ginger looked up from the cast, her pen paused over a lopsided smiley face. "She was at _Fangtasia_ all night. Eric is out of town so she's like the head honcho, and has to deal with everything from...from yesterday."

Caroline's heart sank. "She was at _Fangtasia_ all night?"

"Yeah," Ginger replied before lowering her eyes back to her writing efforts on the thick arm cast.

"A-and she knew about ...about me?"

"Yup, she was there when the police took my statement. Had to make a copy of the parking lot's security tapes for them too... well, she made Chow do that. Then when she finally kicked them off the property, she locked herself in the office all night."

"All night? You're sure?"

Ginger nodded her head in affirmation. "Yeah. I felt so guilty about what happened, that I didn't want to leave work. I wanted help some way, but she never came out of the office so I just stayed there and mopped, and cleaned, and restocked the bar, and-"

"I get it Ginger," Caroline cut her off, suddenly no longer in the mood for visitors. So Pam had known she'd been injured, probably even saw the surveillance video, and she hadn't even come to check if she was alright... or even alive after the beating she took. Her doubts from the day before came back full force, and the thought that she was nothing but a warm and willing bed partner to Pam suddenly flared**,** like a blinking neon sign behind her closed eyes.

"You ok, Caroline?" Ginger's voice was quiet with worry, and a small frown creased her brow.

"I... I'm just a little tired I think," Caroline offered in explanation.

"Oh! I'm sorry, sweetheart," Ginger apologized with a squeak. She stood quickly, after giving her another painful hug, and collected her purse. "Feel better, Caroline." She started to turn, but paused suddenly and toyed with the strap of her bag. Looking somber, she met her eyes with an soft gaze, "I really appreciate what you did for me. Not many would stick their necks out for someone like me. No one really has before. Not even my own momma."

Caroline's heart ached with the sad truth of Ginger's confession. She'd been delusional about Pam for two months and the weight of that crumbling wall left her numb. Her heart, now cracked with the truth about her so called relationship, was weakened further with a slow throb that tightened her chest after Ginger's words.

"So, thank you."

"Ginger..." she wanted to say something more than _'you're welcome'_, but with her heart out of order at the moment, it was all she could mange in reply before Ginger left quietly.

Alone again, Caroline cried silently until there were no tears left to set free. She watched the colors on the bare hospital wall darken from warm oranges to cool blues. Nightfall had come, and again Pam had not.

* * *

**TBC **


End file.
